Wat&^ilRny 


:S  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 


7^^ 


THE    USE    Ot-    THE    MIDDLE    CLASS 
IIEOLOOICAL    SEMINARY    IN    PRINCETON. 


I   JAMES  C.  MOFFAT. 

tel.ENA    KROFESSOR    OF    CHlTRril    HISTORY. 


he  hirth  of  Christ  to  A.  />.  t(i48. 


PRINCETON: 

OHAKI.ES    S.    ROBINSON,  PRINTER. 

1876 


•       • 


>>       \ 


"i. 


Warficid  Librajry 


OUTLINES  OF  CHURCH  HISTORVro^c 


^^N  Of  Pmf^^^ 

191925 


KELIGIOUS    STATE    OF    THE    WOKLD      AT     THE    Al'PEAH AKCK    nT 

oiimsT. 

Jesus,  who  is  called  the  Christ,  wsis  born  iti  Judea, 
shortl}'  before  the  death  of  Herod  L,  vvhicli  took  place 
between  March  13th  and  April  4th,  in  the  year  750  0.  C. 
The  birth  of  Jcsu8  could  not  have  been  later  than  two 
or  three  months  before  that  event;  it  may  have  been 
earlier  by  one,  or  even  two  yearrj.  Our  common  ei-a 
assumes  it  to  have  occurred  in  764  IT.  0.,.;at  least  four 
years  too  late.     The  da'y  of  his,  birtii  is  not  determined. 

At  that  epocii*,- the  state  of  religion  in  the  west  of 
Asia  and  Europe  was  one  of  g-reat  depression.  Rational- 
ism had  Ref)arated  between  faith  and  intelligence;  east 
of  the  Indus  it  had  constructed  two  great .  philosophical 
religions;  west  of  the  Tigris  had  set  up  philosophy  as  a 
substitute  for  religion,  and  carried  the  convictions  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  educated.  Confucianism  and 
Buddhism,  as  religions,  were  accepted  by  vast  multitudes; 
Greek  philosophy  did  not  profess  to  be  religion,  and 
scorned  the  ignorant  populace.  Between  the  Indus  and 
the  Tigris  ruled  the  semi-barbarous  Parthian,  maintain- 
ing a  degenerat'e  Magism,  Avestan  monotheisjn  was 
almost  buried  out  of  sight  under  that  domination.  The 
pure  faith  of  the  Hebrews  was  confined  to  few. 

Everywhere  the  religious  condition  of  the  multitudes, 
to  whom  philosophy  or  philosophical  religion  was  inac- 
cessible, was  exceedingly  degraded. 

All  the  countries  lying  around  the  Mediterranean 
were  under  one  ruler.  Rome  had  within  the  preceding 
half  century  united  the  ruder  west  of  Europe  to  the 
decay in^^  civilizations  on  the  eastern  coasts  of  that  sea. 
Parthian  barbarism  lay  as  a  barrier  between  that  new 
en)pire  and  the  culture  of  the  fui-tl>er  east. 


"''%j 


■t^ftM^ 


2 

Civilization  in  China  and  India  was  bound  up  in 
their  great  philosophical  religions;  in  the  west  it  reposed 
upon  philosophy;  while  good  order  and  security  were 
niaintained  by  Roman  legislation  and  arms. 

Great  facilities  for  the  spread  of  knowledge  were 
furnislied  l)y  Roman  dominion  ;  I)}'  tlie  protection  it 
furnished,  the  freedom  of  inter-communication  which  it 
promoted,  by  one  coiumon  language  of  business,  and 
one  of  polite  literature.  The  wisdom  and  culture  of  the 
east  were  easily,  through  the  common  heart  of  Rome, 
extended  to  the  strong  but  rugged  nations  of  the  west. 
And  the  government  of  that  vast  dominion  was,  at  the 
time  of  the  Savi(^ur's  birth,  in  the  hands  of  one  man, 
whose  policy  was  peace. 

But  there  was  little  hope  or  enterprise  among  tlie 
nations.  Their  spirit  had  been  crushed.  Among  the 
wisest  beatben  a  deep  despondency  prevailed,  a  sense  of 
want,  which  no  earthly  possessions  c(^uld  till. 

Practical  morals  were  at  that  time  among  the 
heathen  exceedingly  base,  and  basest  in  the  highest 
})lace3  of  society ;  not  because  men  did  not  know  the 
difference  between  right  and  wrong,  but  because  they 
wei"e  without  sufficient  persuasives  to  rigliteousness. ' 
The  example  of  tlieir  gods  could  be  adduced  to  justify 
or  palliate  any  vice  or  crime.  Their  great  want  was  the 
want  of  a  Saviour. 

The  Jews  were  still  in  possession  of  their  own  land, 
but  sul)ject3  of  the  Roman  Empire,  to  which  they  had 
recently  been  annexed.  Jews  of  pure  descent  occupied 
chiefly  the  southern  part  of  the  country  ;  Samaritans  tlie 
middle,  and  Galileans  the  north,  both  being  of  mixed 
descent;  and  the  eastern  side  of  Jordan,  divided  into 
Iturea,  Trachonites,  and  l^erea  was  also  held  by  a  hetero- 
geneous population. 

Pure  Jews  were  of  three  religious  sects;  Pharisees, 
who  were  ritualists;  Sadducees,  rationalists;  and  Essenes, 
who  were  Ascetics.  Moreover,  Jews  were  then  resident 
in  almost  every  nation  :  and  in  their  synagogues  tlie 
scriptures  of  promise  were  read.  Among  both  Jews 
and  gentiles  there  prevailed  an  expectancy  of  some  great 
personage  about  to  appear  with  blessing  to  mankind. 


C^IRIST. 

The  8iiviour  was  of  pure  Hebrew  geiiealoi^y  but  made 
his  residence  chietlv  ainonsi:  the  half  p-eutiles  of  Galilee. 
His  public  ministry  commenced  witli  his, baptism,  when 
he  was  about  thirt}'  years  of  age,  and  extended  to  about 
three  years  and  three  months. 

The  social  condition  in  which  he  was  born  was  lowly, 
and  yet,  as  both  his  mother  and  foster  father  were  de- 
scended of  the  ancient  Kings  of  Judea,  he  was  a  son  of 
David  according  to  the  flesh. 

Historically,  Christ  appeared  as  a  teacher,  in  the 
crowning  period  of  ancient  learning  and  culture.  Some 
things  in  his  teaching  were  peculiar  to  himself. 

1.  He  did  not  present  what  he  taught  as  conclusions 
which  he  had  arrived  at;  neithei-  as  things  discovered, 
nor  as  certified  by  thinking  in  reference  to  them,  but 
purely  as  revelation. 

2.  He  did  not  reveal  as  having  learned  from  some 
higher  intelligence,  but  as  speaking  of  his  own  original 
knowledge. 

3.  His  method  was  of  great  breadth,  calling  in  the 
exercise  of  all  faculties  of  the  human  mind,  and.  never 
seeking  to  simplify  by  sinking  one  faculty  in  another. 

4.  His  instructions  have  eminently  the  mark  of 
holiness. 

II.  As  to  their  substance,  his  lessons  contained  intel- 
ligence from  the  councils  of  God;  touching  the  nature 
of  God's  existence,  his  designs  for  man,  and  some  of  his 
dealings  with  higher  beings. 

2.  They  laid  open  the  whole  plan  of  redemption ; 
and  the  love  of  God  to  man. 

3.  They  taught  the  purest,  most  summary  and  most 
eflectual  principles  of  morals;  and  the  way  whereby 
man  is  to  be  accepted  as  holy  with  God :  and  of  Jesus 
himself  that  he  was  the  sacrifice  for  sin,  the  mediator  of 
a  new  covenant  and  the  eternal  Son   of  God. 

III.  Jesus  addressed  the  understanding  of  men,  but 
demanded  of  his  followers  first  of  all  an  act  of  the  heart ; 
namely,  that  they  ehould  trust  in  him  and  love  him  and 
one  another.     And  his  teaching  has  been   accompanied 


witli  :i  power  to  go  directly  to  the  bean  and  change 
tlio  state  of  its  affections.  Thereby,  notwithstanding  its 
de[)tb  and  height,  it  is  adapted  to  all  grades  of  capacity. 
TV.  The  operation  and  effect  of  his  teaching  are 
found  in  practice  to  be  what  he  said  they  would  be. 

V.  His  miracles,  his  death  and  resurrection  were 
essential  to  his  instructions,  as  well  as  parts  of  what  he 
came  to  do,  and  all,  taken  together,  make  a  consistent 
whole,  which  is  the  Gospel. 

flis  last  commission  to  his  disciples  was  to  teach  all 
nations.  The  progress  of  that  teaching  among  men  is 
the  liistory  of  the  church. 

VI.  Christ  presented  himself  as  the  subject  of  his 
gospel,  and  the  teacher  of  its  doctrines;  but  assigned  to 
his  disciples,  under  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  task  of  organiz- 
ing their  own  society  — which  is  the  church.  Of  tliat 
the  beginning  waa  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the 
day  of  the  first  Pentecost  after  the  ascension. 

CHURCH  HISTORY. 

The  History  of  the  Christian  Church  since  that  date 
is  divided,  in  view  of  its  own  progress,  into  four  great 
periods.  The  first  is  that  of  Apostolic  history,  in  the 
end  of  which  the  church  ceased  to  enjoy  the  presence 
and  counsels  of  inspired  men  who  had  seen  the  Lord. 
Second  is  that  which  ended  in  conferring  upon  Christians 
external  supremacy  in  the  Roman  empire,  extending 
from  about  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  until 
the  year  324  A.  J).  The  third  is  that  of  union  with  the 
state,  and  bondage  to  the  rule  of  legalism  within  the 
pale  of  the  church,  and  extends  until  the  first  successful 
efforts  for  liberation,  in  and  about  1517  A.  D. 

This  long  period  contains  others  of  great  importance, 
as  that  which  was  marked  by  tlie  ISTestorian  schism  in 
431  A.  I).;  that  which  determined  the  separation  of  the 
great  group  of  Mouophysite  churches,  in  553  A.  D.  ; 
the  terrible  loss  to  the  churches  of  the  east  and  south 
in  the  first  Mohammedan  invasions,  which  began  in 
632  A.  D.,  and  the  separation  of  the  chui'ch  into  the 
eastern  and  western  in  the  year  1054. 


The  tburtli  great  period  is  that  of  the  general  coiliict 
for  and  against  the  iVee  publication  of  tlie  Gospel,  and 
its  sole  authority  in  the  church  ;  which  is  still  going  on. 

Upon  more  minute  inspection,  we  shall  find  it  neces- 
sary to  divide  each  of  our  periods  into  several  subordi- 
nate sections,  on  the  same  principle,  but  drawn  more 
closely  from  operations  of  tlie  inner  life  of  Christians. 

FIRST    PERIOD. 

Apostolic  History  consists  of  five  sections,  marked 
by  their  respective  steps  of  progress  in  the  publication 
of  the  Gospel ;  namely,  organization  of  the  church  in 
Jerusalem;  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Samaritans 
and  elsewhere  in  Palestine  ;  first  mission  to  the  gentiles  ; 
the  overthrow  of  Jewish  nationality,  and  the  completing 
of  the  sacred  canon,  and  deatli  of  the  last  inspired 
teacher. 

1. 

The  first  began  with  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  closed 
with  the  death"  of  Ste[)hen.  In  it  were  witnessed  the 
descent  of, the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  transforming  eftect 
upon  the  character  of  the  Apostles,  the  sermon  of  Peter, 
with  the  addition  of  three  thousand  to  the  number  of 
the  believers  in  that  one  day.  All  the  Christians  resided 
at  that  time  in  Jerusalem.  They  formed  one  society, 
and  had  all  things  in  common.  At  first  their  temporal 
as  religious  affairs  were  conducted  by  the  apostl<?s ;  by 
the  appointment  of  deacons  the  apostolic  form  of  the 
church  was  completed.  Tlie  Christians  of  that  time 
were  Jews,  or  Jewish  proselytes,  and  thought  that  the 
Gospel  belonged  only  to  the  children  of  Abraham.^  The 
apostles  were  endowed  with  supernatural  gifts  for  the 
planting  of  the  church  in  its  worship,  goverumeut  and 
instruction. 

For  a  meeting  of  the  whole,  they  used  the  court  of 
the  temple,  but  "they  also  met  in  separate  bodies,  as 
occasion  required,  in 'synagogue?  and  in  private  houses; 
and  the  synagogue,  not  the  "temple,  furnished  the  basis 
of  their  worship  and  government.  In  the  sense  of  a 
common   organization,   they  were  one   church;     in  the 


,6 

sense  of  congregations,  they  were  sometimes  several. 
Provision  for  the  poor  among  them  was  accepted  as  a 
dut}',  and  those  who  had  property  contributed  freely  to 
the  wants  of  the  rest. 

Enemies  arra^-ed  themselves  against  the  church  from 
the  "first;  the  Sadducees  because  they  preached  the  re- 
surrection, and  the  Pharisees  on  the  ground  of  disorder. 
The  caution  and  tolerance  recommended  by  Gamaliel 
prevailed  for  a  time  in  the  council.  But  persecution 
broke  out  again  with  great  severity  upon  the  death  of 
Stephen,  and  the  members  of  the  church  were  scattered 
abroad. 

2.  . 

The  dispersion  was  at  fii'st  through  the  regions  of 
Judea  and  Samaria,  bat  very  soon  it  extended  also  to 
the  Gentiles.  The  apostles  lingered  longer  in  Jerusalem, 
making  thnt  city  the  centre  of  operations.  Philip,  the 
evangelist,  was  the  first  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  Samari- 
tans. From  Jerusalem  two  apostles  Peter  and  John 
were  sent  to  inquire  into  that  work,  and  being  satisfied 
with  reality  of  the  conversions,  rejoiced  together  with 
their  fellow  apostles,  in  such  a  way  as  shows  that  the 
fact  was  more  than  they  had  expected.  Peter's  experi- 
ence in  the  case  of  Cornelius  prepared  them  for  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  The  Roman  Centurion 
was  received  into  the  church  by  profession  of  faith  and 
baptism.  Acts  x.  44-48;  xv.  6-11.  A  new  apostle  was 
next  called  for  the  express  purpose  of  preaching  to  the 
Gentiles.  Paul's  conversion  occurred  in  or  about  the 
year  37.  After  having  preached  in  Damascus,  he  spent 
some  time  in  Arabia,  visited  Jerusalem,  and  returned  to 
his  native  city  Tarsus. 

Meanwhile  some  of  the  dispersed  came  to  Antioch 
and  preached  to  the  Greeks,  and  a  great  number  believed. 
Hearing  of  that,  the  apostles  at  Jerusalem  sent  Barna- 
bas to  visit  Antioch,  wdio  when  he  had  come  and  had 
seen  the  grace  of  God  was  greatly  rejoiced;  and  going 
to  Tarsus  he  found  Paul,  and  brought  him  to  Antioch, 
wdiere  they  both  labored  for  a  whole  year.  In  that  great 
city,  where  strict  Jews  with  their   Hellenistic  brethren, 


and  Heutlieii,  with  prosel^'tes  to  Judaism,  lived  in  close 
neighborhood,  the  views  of  the  disci[)les  were  further 
enlightened  touching  the  liberality  of  the  Gospel.  Con- 
sequently Antioch  was  the  place  where  tlie  disciples  were 
iirst  regarded  as  other  than  a  Hebrew  sect,  and  first 
received  name  Christian. 

The  church  which  in  the  first  of  these  two  brief 
periods  was  but  one  community,  was  in  the  second  dis- 
persed and  formed  into  many.  Jewish  exclusiveness  in 
the  minds  of  the  disciples  was  overcome  so  far  as  to 
admit  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  Samaritans  and  Gen- 
tiles. But  all  were  still  expected  to  submit  to  Jewish 
rites. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  number  of  believers  was  a 
fact  which  most  deeply  impressed  the  writer  of  their 
early  history.     He  recurs  to  it  in  different  connections. 

The  creed  of  the  church  was  contained  in  the  simple 
apostolic  injunction.  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

It  was  in  the  latter  years  of  the  hmperor  Tiberius 
that  the  church  w;i8  formed  in  Jerusalem.  The  begin- 
ning of  its  dispersion  took  place  perhaps  in  the  22nd 
year  of  that  reign.  The  second  period  lasted  through 
r  the  reign  of  Caligula  and  to  the  fourth  year  of  Claudius. 
(^<  In  41  Herod  Agrip{>;'  was  elevated  by  Claudius  to  be 
king  of  all  Palestihe.  He  died  in  44  A.  D.  The 
country  was  again  treated  as  a  province,  and  governed 
from  Rome. 


In  the  history  of  the  apostolic  church  the  third  sec- 
tion extends  from  the  first  regularly  appointed  mission 
to  the  Gentiles,  about  the  year  45,  until  the  arrival  of 
Paul  at  Rome,  in  A.  D.  61. 

After  the  Jews,  the  first  opponents  whom  Christianity 
met  in  argument  were  the  Greeks,  keen  and  logical,  and 
it  became  of  importance  for  its  preachers  to  be  versed  in 
that  learning  from  which  those  opponents  drew  their 
arguments.  Jews  alone  were  yet  systematically  arrayed 
against  the  gospel.  Antioch  furnished  a  refuge  for  the 
dtsciples  where  they  were  safe  from  that  persecution,  and 


8 

a  favorable  center  of  operations  among  the  heathen.  A 
short  time  subsequent  to  the  year  44,  most  likely  in  45 
A.  J),  a  number  of  pious  men,  prophets  and  teachers 
residing  at  Antloch,  as  they  ministered  to  the  Lord  and 
fasted,  were  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  set  apart  Bar- 
nabas and  Saul  to  the  work  of  missions  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. So  when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed,  and  laid  their 
hands  upon  the  missionaries,  they  sent  them  away.  The 
gospel  was  preached  in  every  direction  from  Jerusalem ; 
but  this,  the  most  important  of  apostolic  missions  was 
addressed  to  the  heart  of  the  highest  civilization. 

The  missionaries  were  well  qualilied  for  their  task. 
Both  of  pure  Hebrew  blood,  they  were  both  natives  of 
Greek  countries,  and  had  enjoyed  both  Greek  and  Hebrew 
culture.  From  Antioch  they  proceeded  to  Seleucia,  took 
ships  to  Cyprus,  visited  the  cities  Salamis  and  Paphos, 
in  the  latter  of  which  the  Roman  Proconsul,  Sergius 
Paulus  was  converted,  and  the  name  of  the  apostle 
ceases  to  be  Saul,  and  becomes  Paul.  Thence  they  sailed 
to  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Here  Jolm  Mark  who 
attended  them  from  Antioch  forsook  them  and  returned. 
Landing  at  Atalia  they  proceeded  through  Pamphylia  to 
Antioch  in  Pisidia.  Thence  eastward  to  Iconium,  then 
to  Lystra  and  to  Derbe.  At  Lystra  they  with  difficulty 
restrained  tlie  people  from  offering  them  worship,  until 
the  Jews  stirred  up  opposition  to  them.  From  Derbe 
they  retraced  their  steps  to  Lystra,  Iconium,  Antiocli, 
Perga,  and  Atalia,  and  thence  to  Antioch  in  Syria. 
There  they  reported  to  the  church  what  God  had  wrought 
by  them  ;  and  abode  a  long  time  with  the  disciples. 

Then  arose  a  controversy  about  what  was  to  be  done 
with  heathen  converts,  VYhether  it  was,  or  was  not  neces- 
sary for  them  to  be  circumcised  and  keep  the  law  of 
Moses.  As  some  persons  from  Jud{«a  disturbed  the 
church  in  Antioch  by  arguing  the  affi:rmative  of  that 
question,  it  was  resolved  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  and 
certain  others  should  go  to  Jerusalem  and  consult 
the  apostles  and  elders.  In  Jerusalem  the  controversy 
was  also  warm.  Certain  Pharisees  who  had  become 
christian  were  very  earnest  for  retaining  the  law.  In  the 
meeting  which  took  place  there  was  difference  of  opinion; 


9 

but  after  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  Peter  had  spoken,  re- 
counting what  God  liad  done  for  Gentiles  through  tiieni, 
James  proposed  a  resolution  wliicli  was  agreed  to,  that 
Gentile  converts  should  abstain  from  meats  offered  to 
idols,  from  blood,  from  things  strangled  and  from  forni- 
cation, and  that  l)eyond  this  no  other  burden  should  be 
imposed  upon  them.  Silas  and  Judas  Barrfabas  were  v^' 
appointed  to  accompany  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Antioch,  / 
and  communicate  the  message  which  they  also  carried 
in  writing. 

Still  this  was  not  complete  emancipation  from  Legal- 
ism. The  whole  ministry  of  Paul  was  needed  to  eftect 
that,  by  demonstrating  that  salvation  is  by  faith  in  Christ 
alone,  and  that  the  believer  is  no  longer  under  the  law, 
but  under  grace.  The  meeting,  or  council  at  Jerusalem 
occurred  in  the  year  50  or  51  A.  D.,  most  probably  the 
former. 

Soon  afterward  Paul  and  Barnabas  undertook  another 
missonary  tour,  but  did  not  go  together.  Barnabas  took 
Mark  as  his  companion  and  went  to  Cyprus;  Paul  took 
Silas,  and  went  through  Northern  Syria,  round  the  gulf 
of  Issus  iuto  Cilicia,  contirming  the  churches.  Thence 
to  Derbe,  Lystra  and  Iconium.  stations  on  his  former 
tour;  then  through  Phrygia  and  Galatia  to  Mysia.  At 
Troas  he  had  a  vision  of  a  man  of  Macedonia,  saying 
"  come  over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us."  Accordingly 
he  and  his  companions  sailed  over  to  ]!^eapolis,  the  sea- 
port of  Pliilippi.  In  that  city  after  being  imprisoned, 
miraculously  delivered,  the  conversion  of  the  jailor,  and 
vindication  of  their  own  character  as  Eoman  citizens, 
the  missionaries  planted  a  church,  and  proceeding  south- 
ward visited  Thessalonica  and  Berwa.  Thence  meeting 
with  opposition  from  Jews,  Paul  went  to  Athens,  then 
to  Corinth,  where  his  companions,  left  at  Beraa,  came 
to  him.  After  laboring  about  eighteen  months  there,  he 
sailed  to  Ephesus,  then'to  Caesarea  in  Palestine,  then  to 
Jerusalem  to  observe  the  Pentecost,  and  returned  to 
Antioch  in  course  of  the  Summer. 

Paul's  third  missionary  tour  was  entered  on  in 
Autumn  of  same  year  in  which  he  returned  from  the 
second.'    It  pursued  nearly  the  same  course,  but  more 


10 

time  was  spent  in  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  and  its  direction 
was  tlirongh  Proconsular  Asia  to  Epliesus.  In  that  city 
Paul  remained  nearly  three  years,  so  that  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  province  heard  the  word  of  tlie  Lord  Jesus. 
In  the  year  57  he  proceeded  by  way  of  Troas  to  Mace- 
donia and  in  the  Winter  visited  Corinth,  spent  three 
Tiionths  there  and  in  the  vicinity.  Next  Sprins;  he  set 
fortli  on  his  return  by  way  of  Macedonia  ;  thence  across 
the  ^Eo;ean  sea  to  Troas  ;  then  from  point  to  point  down 
the  Asiatic  coast  to  Miletus  where  he  had  his  last  inter- 
view with  the  elders  of  Ephesus  ;  then,  by  way  of  Rhodes 
and  Patara,  to  Tyre,  to  Ptolemais  and  Caesarea,  and 
finally  to  Jerusalem. 

At  Jerusalem  a  violent  Jewish  party  charged  him 
with  teaching  even  Jews  abroad  to  disregard  the  laws  of 
Moses,  and  stirred  up  a  mob,  from  which  Paul  was 
rescued  by  the  Roman  officer  in  command  of  the  garrison 
in  the  city.  This  led  to  his  trial  before  Felix,  Festus 
and  Agrippa  and  his  appeal  to  C?esar.  At  Caesarea  he 
was  kept  a  prisoner  during  the  whole  of  the  year  59,  arid 
the  o;reater  part  of  the  next.  Late  in  the  Autumn  of  A. 
D.  60,  he  was  sent  to  Rome,  but  was  delayed  until  the 
Winter  set  in.  In  crossing  the  Ionian  sea  he  suffered 
shipwreck,  was  constrained  to  spend  three  months  on 
the  island  of  Malta,  and  did  not  reach  Rome  nntil  the 
Spring  of  A.  D.  61. 

The  officer  who  had  charge  of  Paul  and  the  other 
prisoners,  treated  him  with  great  courtesy  and  indul- 
gence. At  Rome,  he  was  received  with  similar  consid- 
eration, and  was  suffered  to  dwell  two  years  in  a  house 
hired  by  himself,  freely  preaching  the  gospel  to  all  who 
visited  him. 

Paul's  efforts  had  been  addressed  chiefly  to  the  great 
seats  of  government  and  moral  influence.  Antioch  was 
his  starting  point,  and  the  scenes  of  his  most  prolonged 
labors,  besides  that  city,  were  Philppi,  Ephesus,  Corinth 
and  Rome. 

The  companions  of  Paul  in  his  missionary  labor  were 
in  his  first  journey,  Barnabas  all  the  way,  and  Mark  as 
far  as  Perga ;  on  his  second,  Silas,  and  from^  Lystra, 
Timothy,  and  at  least  part  of  the  way,  Luke;   on   his 


11 

third,  Luke,  Titus  and  Timothy.  Aquihi  and  Pris^cilhi, 
Apollos  and  others  were  also  associated  with  hini  hrieHy 
at  different  times  and  places. 

His  epistles  were  written  chiefly  between  A.  D.  52 
and  63,  at  Corinth,  at  Ephesus  and  at  Rome. 

A  tradition  represents  Paul  as  liberated  after  his  first 
trial,  as  making  extensive  missionary  tours,  revisiting 
Ephesus,  Macedonia  and  Miletus,  and  extending  his 
labi)rs  to  Nicopolis,  to  Crete  and  to  Spain.  In  the  year 
preceding  the  death  of  ]^[ero,  it  is  said  he  was  again  in 
Rome,  having  been  arrested  a  second  time,  and  suffered 
death  by  beheading  in  that  year.  Those  who  believe  ii> 
a  second  imprisonment  of  Paul  refer  to  it  the  writing  of 
the  pastoral  epistles. 

4. 

The  succeeding  section  of  Apostolic  history  extends 
from  the  beginning  of  Paul's  imprisonment  in  Rome  to 
the  destructitm  of  Jerusalem  : — fi'om  A.  D.  61  to  70. 

After  the  meeting  at  Jerusalem,  the  history  of  the 
other  apostles  is  involved  iu  obscurity.  After  that  occa- 
sion we  read  of  Peter  at  Antioch,  and  iu  his  own  epistle 
atBabylon.  Although  the  door  was  opened  to  the  gentiles 
through  the  agency  of  Peter,  his  vocation  was  not  to 
them,  but  to  the  Jews.  The  testimonies  adduced  to 
sustain  the  assertion  that  he  was  Bishop  of  Rome,  are 
feeble  and  contradictoiy  in  themselves,  and  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  all  the  scripture  that  touches  the  subject. 

Of  the  other  apostles  our  knowledge  is  still  more 
scanty,  and  chiefly  apocryphal.  They  are  said  to  have 
preached  the  gospel  in  Arabia,  in  Ethiopia,  in  Egypt,  iu 
Parthia.  in  Persia,  in  India  and  in  Scythia.  The  great 
fact,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  question,  is  that  churches 
were  planted  in  all  the  leading  countries  adjoining  on  the 
Mediterranean  sea,  and  in  the  direction  in  which  their 
civilization  was  advancing. 

The  church  accepted  its  generic  form  within  the  time 
of  Paul.  To  that  end  the  chief  actors  were  Peter,  Paul 
and  James.  The  apostles  had  their  place  exterior  to  the 
working  system  of  the  church,  and  were  not  included 
under  it.     They  were  appointed  by  Christ  and  miracu- 


12 

lonsly  qualified   for   the   special    and   temporary   service 
which  they  performed. 

The  early  christian  clinrch  grew  up  from  elements 
contained  in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  both  as  respects  gov- 
ernment and  worship.  The  elders,  who  were  the  rulers, 
the  reader  and  speaker  and  minister  or  attendant  were 
tlie  office  bearers  of  the  synagogue.  And, the  exercises 
consisted  of  prayer,  reading  of  the  Word,  exposition  and 
exhortation,  with  chanting  of  Psalms  and  concluded  with 
the  pronunciation  of  a  blessing.  All  the  churches  were 
constituted  on  the  same  model  and  were  of  co-ordinate 
"authority.  None  assumed  supremacy  over  tlie  rest, 
though  Jerusalem  first,  and  then  Antiocb,  was  the  niost 
influential.  Before  the  death  of  Paul,  the  christian 
church  consisted  of  a  great  number  of  such  communities 
all  professing  the  same  faith  and  loving  the  same 
Redeemer  and  one  anotlier. 

The  publication  of  the  gospel  was  first  made  by  oral 
address.  A  literature  however  was  ordained  also  and 
grew  up  by  degrees.  The  canonical  books  except  those 
of  John,  were  probably  all  written  before  the  close  of 
this  section  of  time. 

When  Paul  finished  his  labors,  the  freedom  of  the 
gospel  had  been  fully  vindicated;  but  there  was  a  party 
in  the  church  which  still  advocated  compliance  with  some 
parts  of  the  ceremonial  law.  The  great  controversy  of 
the  apostolic  period  was  over  this  question.  Paul  was 
on  one  side  and  Peter  was  claimed  by  the  moderate 
advocates  on  the  other.  On  either  side  the  extremes  ran 
out  into  heresy. 

The  animosity  of  unconverted  Jews  and  of  the  Jew- 
ish authorities  towards  christians  of  all  parties  was 
unrelenting.  But  their  power  was  drawing  near  its  end. 
A  heathen  enemy  had  already-  begun  his  career. 

The  events  now  mentioned  took  place  under  the 
emperors  Claudius,  and  Nero.  The  last  came  to  the 
throne  in  A.  J).  54.  In  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  a 
large  part  of  Rome  was  burned,  by  design  or  accident  is 
not  certain.  But  the  blame  was  laid  on  the  emperor  ; 
And  he  to  avert  the  obloquy  from  himself,  charged  it  on 
the   christians.       We   have   no  reason  to  believe  that  he 


13 

ooiiceriied    himself  about    the   faith   of  christians,  l)nt  he 
could  direct  popular  ra^-e  against  them  with  impunity. 

In  the  latter  years  of  Nero's  reign,  an  insurrection  in 
Judea  led  to  the  removal  thither  of  a  large  body  of 
Roman  troops.  An  obstinate  roaistance  changed  the 
movement  into  a  war.  On  the  part  of  the  Romans  it 
was  conducted  b}'  Vespasian  and  his  son  Titus.  In  the 
midst  of  the  war  Nero,  last  of  the  Ca?sars,  came  to  his 
miserable  and  merited  end,  (June  11,  A.  D.  68.) 

The  im.perial  throne  was  now  an  object  of  ambition 
open  to  all  the  heads  of  the  military  force.  The  Pre- 
torian  Guards  at  Rome,  the  army  of  the  west  in  Spain, 
that  of  the  northwest,  in  Gaul  and  on  the  Rhine  claimed, 
each  for  themselves,  the  right  of  putting  their  respective 
generals  into  the  place  of  honor.  And  Galba,  Otho  and 
Vitellius  were  successivelj'  elevated  to  the  throne  and 
dragged  from  it,  in  the  space  of  a  year  and  a  half  Soon 
after  the  last  of  the  three  was  elevated  to  the  now  dan- 
gerous office,  A^espasian  also  put  in  his  claim.  Tiie 
army  in  Judea  he  left  under  command  of  Titus  ;  that  of 
Illyricum  was  sufficient  for  his  own  purpose.  It  was 
already  near  the  scene  of  strife,  took  up  his  cause,  and 
won  his  victories  before  his  arrival.  The  empire  was 
waiting  for  his  acceptance.  And  thus  the  Flavian  family 
(Dec.  20th,  69,)  became  the  successor  of  the  Julian. 

With  Vespasian  a  new  style  of  government  opened. 
For  the  good  of  the  state  his  days  were  filled  with  busi- 
ness. His  industry  and  economy  were  even  more  than 
the  Romans  of  that  age  could  rightly  estimate.  During 
that  reign  from  70  to "79  A.  D.,  Christians,  like  all  other 
orderly  "subjects  enjoyed  the  protection  of  a  government 
which  interfered  not  with  their  religious  opinions. 

Meanwhile  Titus,  in  command  of  the  army  in  Judea, 
after  overcoming  a  resistance  of  unsurpassed  obstinacy, 
took  Jerusalem  by  storm  (Sept.  2,  70  A.  D.)  ^  Its  walls 
and  houses,  and,  much  to  the  regret  of  Titus,  its  beauti- 
ful temple,  were  levelled  with  the  ground.  The  Jews 
as  a  nation  were  completely  reduced.  A  portion  of  them 
remained  in  the  land  between  sixty  and  seventy  years 
longer,  after  which  in  another  rebellion,  they  were  finally 
broken  and  their  fragments  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 


14 

Theii-  national  centre  was  now  lost,  and  their  power 
to  injure  the  christians  greatly  reduced,  but  dispersed  as 
they  were  in  far  separate  societies  their  hostility  never 
abated  until  it  became  dangerous  to  themselves  to  indulge 
it.  And  ere  that  time  they  had  accumulated  for  their 
posterity  an  inheritance  of  vengeance,  vvhicii  is  not  all 
exhausted  to  the  present  day. 

The  Mosaic  economy  virtually  abolished  by  the  death 
of  Christ,  was  now  practically  terminated,  and  the  sac- 
rifice and  oblation  ceased. 


From  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  A.  D.  70,  to  the 
death  of  the  Apostle  John,  the  church  pa.-sed  through 
another  stage  of  progress,  apostolic  chiefly,  and  towards 
the  last,  solely  by  the  presence  of  the  beloved  disciple. 

A  new  generation  was  now  growing  up  in  the  church, 
and  ere  the  end  of  this  period  the  mass  of  believers  con- 
sisted of  those  who  had  been  born  within  christian 
families. 

The  clemency  of  Vespasian's  reign  was  continued 
in  that  of  Titus,  and  the  churches  enjoyed  freedom,  in 
as  far  as  tlie  government  was  concerned.  But  when  in 
A.  D.  81,  Domitan,  a  younger  son  of  Vespasian  came  to 
the  throne,  the  work  of  persecution  received  imperial 
sanction.  Among  others  Flavins  Clemens  and  his  wife 
Domitilla,  kindred  of  the  emperor,  suffered.  Through 
Jewish  misrepresentation  Domitian  was  made  to  believe 
that  the  aim  of  the  christians  was  to  put  the  successors 
of  Jesus  on  the  throne.  He  relaxed  his  severity  upon 
discovering  that  the  surviving  kinsmen  of  Jesus  were 
poor  peasants  without  political  ambition  or  desires. 
Persecution  of  christians  however  continued  on  the 
ground  of  Atheism,  that  iB  rejection  of  all  the  gods  of 
heathen  worship.  JS^erva,  ascending  the  throne  in  A.  D. 
96,  repealed  ihe  persecuting  edicts  of  Domitian  ;  but  took 
no  steps  to  legalize  Christianity,  and  give  it  a  right  to 
governmental  protection.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he 
was  succeeded  by  Trajan,  a  wise  ruler,  but  severe,  by 
whom  although  persecution  was  limited,  it  was  within 
those  limits  sanctioned. 


After  the  Jewish  wars  began,  the  apostle  John  removed 
to  Proconsular  Asia,  took  np  his  residejice  at  Ephesus. 
and  preached  in  several  cities  m  that  province.  He 
addreeses  its  seven  churches  with  the  authority  of  a 
special  commission.  Under  Domitian,  he  was  ban- 
ished for  a  time  to  the  isle  of  Patmos,  where  he  wrote 
the  book  of  Revelation.  His  gospel  was  written  after 
the  other  three,  and  while  he  resided  at  Ephesus.  His 
epistles  liave  the  color  of  the  same  period,  adapted  rather 
to  fan  the  love  of  those  brought  up  as  christians  than  to 
instruct  converts  from  heathenism  or  Judaism  ;  and  the 
faults  he  reproves  are  not  of  a  nature  incident  to  new 
churches. 

Disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  of  the 
faith  of  believers  had  already  formed  themselves  into 
sects  of  greater  or  smaller  numbers.  Some  taught  that 
the  end  of  the  world  w^as  near,  and  looked  for  an  early 
appearance  of  the  Lord.  The  Docetae  held  that  Christ 
had  no  real  body,  others  that  he  was  only  a  man  ;  at 
Ephesus  under  the  very  presence  of  the  apostle,  Cerin- 
thus  the  Gnostic  taught  his  wild  opinions;  and  the 
iS'icolaitans  had  such  footing  at  Pergamus  tliat  the  Holy 
Spirit,  through  John,  administered  a  reproof  for  that 
cause. 

John  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  died  in  the  reign 
of  Trajan,  about  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and  at 
Ephesus,  to  which  he  had  returned  after  the  death  of 
Domitian.  His  teaching  did  not  turn  upon  legal  con- 
formity or  the  doctrine  of  faith,  but  upon  christian  love, 
and  spiritual  union  with  Christ.  It  was  needful  that  the 
gospel  should  be  presented  in  all  three  views,  as  obe- 
dience, faith  and  love.  Balanced,  as  they  are  in  Scrip- 
ture, they  properly  sustain  one  another.  But  the  last 
comprehends  the  other  two.  Exposition  of  the  more 
comprehensive  principle  was  the  final  work  of  revelation. 
Christianity  was  first  planted  in  cities.  And  as  all 
the  converts  of  one  city  made  only  one  church,  the 
largest  churches  were  those  of  the  large  cities.  Most 
ennnent  at  the  end  of  the  first  century  were  those  as- 
sembled in  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Corinth  and  Rome.  That 
eminence  was  greatly  due  to  the  importance  of  the  cities. 


16 

But  ill    no  case  was  authority  over   the   other   churches 
rec{)o:nized  as  residino-  in  them. 

The  episcopal  succession  in  Antioch  hegins  with 
Evodius,  and  the  second  bishop  was  Ignatius;  in  Rome 
it  begins  with  Linus,  and  the  second  was  Anacletus,  and 
the  third  Clement.  Most  of  the  churches  of  those  days 
claimed  to  b.ave  been  planted  by  an  apoBtle,  but  for 
none  of  them  do  we  find  it  said  in  earliest  tradition  that 
an  apostle  was  the  bisho}). 

i^otwithstanding  the  rise  of  heresies,  the  faith  of  the 
church  in  general  was  still  of  a  uniform  standard,  and 
means  were  in  use  for  the  propagation  and  maintenance 
of  christian  knowledge.  The  canonical  books  of  the 
New  Testament  received  by  the  church  without  question 
were  the  four  gospels,  the  acts  of  the  apostles  by  Luke, 
the  epistles  bearing  the  name  of  Paul,  to  the  number  of 
thirteen,  with  the  first  epistle  of  Peter  and  first  of  John. 
But,  for  a  time,  there  were  some  churches  which  doubted 
concerning  the  epistle  of  James,  the  second  of  Peter, 
the  second  and  third  of  John  and  that  of  Jude.  The 
Apocalj'pso  was  accepted  from  its  first  appearance. 
Subsequently  its  authenticity  was  questioned  by  some 
parties  in  the  chiliast  controversy.  Respecting  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  there  was  question  only  of  its  author- 
ship. These  apostolic  writings  were  publicly  read  in  the 
meetings  of  christians,  :ind  placed  together  with  Old 
Testament  Scripture. 

The  scrupulousness  of  the  early  christians  which  gave 
rise  to  those  doubts,  was  due  to  the  existence  of  certain 
other  books,  in  some  respects  good  and  well  meaning, 
but  of  no  apostolic  authorit3\ 

Tlie  day  on  which  the  Lord  arose  was  a  solemn  and 
memorable  day  to  the  disciples.  On  that  day  week  they 
were  again  assembled,  when  the  Lord  appeared  among 
them.  Subsequently  mention  is  made  of  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  as  that  on  which  the  disciples  "  met  together 
to  break  bread,"  (Acts  xx.  7,)  and  by  the  Apostle  John 
mention  is  made  of  the  Lord's  day,  Rev.  i.  10.  Jewish 
Christians  observed  also  the  annual  festival  of  Pentecost. 
And  in  some  places  exercises  of  public  as  well  as  private 
worship  were  observed  daily. 


17 

Worship  consisted  of  prayer,  readina;  of  Scripture, 
preacliino-,  and  singino;  of  Psalms  and  Hymns  and  ypirit- 
nal  song's.     The  music  was  entirely  vocal. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  apostles  and  chlers  wore 
any  peculiar  vestments  when  conducting  divine  service. 

The  phices  used  for  social  woiship\verc,  in  the  first 
instance,  synagogues,  but  also,  an<i  periiaps  most  com- 
monly, private  houses. 

Of  sacraments  the  early  christians  had  onlv  two. 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  ordinary  ministers  in  sacred  office  were  elders,  in 
the  first  instance  ordained  by  tlie  apostles,  or  evangelists, 
^Acts  xiv.  23.  Titus  ii.  2,)  "with  the  concurrence  "^of  the 
churchoverwhich  they  were  sot  (Clement,  1  Epistle  to  Cor. 
44),  and  evidence  that  they  were  called  by  the 
ll<dy  Spirit,  (Acts  20:  2S.)  The  form  was  hiviiij^  on 
of  hands  by  the  Apostles  or  bv  the  Presbvterv/(1  Tim. 
4:   14.)  ^  •        ■ 

From  tlie  corrupt  morals  of  the  age,  to  whicli  the 
first  christian  converts  had  been  more  or  less  accustomed, 
the  exercise  of  church  discijiline  was  necessarily  strict, 
yet  it  was  ordered  by  the  apostles  to  be  laid  on  with  the 
tenderness  of  brethren,  (2  Thes.  8  :  14.  15.  Titus  ;j:  10. 
2  Cor.  2:  7.)  The  christian  was  t(^  be  holy,  as  becom- 
ing him  in  whom  dwells  tlie  Spirit  of  God"!  1  Cor.  3- 
16,  17. 

SECON'D  PERIOD. 

1. 

At  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John,  about  the  year  100, 
we  come  to  the  dividing  line  between  revelation  and  the 
work  of  preserving  what  has  been  revealed.  So  far  the 
church  has  been  instructed  by  inspired  teachers,  now  she 
is  to  rely  upon  the  ordinary  means.  Still,  for  a  few 
years  the -personal  influence  of  the  apostles  lingered  in 
the  lives  of  persons  who  had  enjoyed  their  society.  The 
next  most  interesting  group  in  the  histor}^  of  the  church 
is  that  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  eminently  gifted  men 
who  had  been  disciples  of  some  of  the  apostles,  among 
whom  the  most  important  were  Clement  of  Rome,  Bar- 
nabas, Hermas,  Ignatius,  Papias  and  Polj'carp.     Of  their 


18 

writings  we  liave  a  general  epistle  by  Barnabas,  an  e[>istle 
to  the  Coi-intliians  by  Clement,  a  book  by  Hernias,  which 
he  calls  the  shepherd,  several  epistles  ascribed  to  Igna- 
tius, and  an  epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  church  at  Philippi. 
Other  writings  are  ascribed  to  some  of  them,  but  deemed 
spurious.  Quite  a  number  of  books  also  are  extant, 
as  if  from  the  first  and  second  centuries,  wldcli 
are  grouped  under  the  general  name  Apocryphal..  To 
none  of  these,  the  genuine  works  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers,  any  more  tlian  tlie  apocryphal,  did  the  early 
churcl),  or  any  part  of  it  attach  a  value  equal  to  the  writ- 
ings of  the  apostles. 

According  to  tradition,  Clement  died  in  A.  I).  102, 
Ignatius  suitered  martyrdom  in  the  amphitheatre  at  Rome 
in  115,  Papias  suivived  UTitil  163,  and  Polycarj.  died  the 
^^    /  r^   _      death   of  a  martyr  in  167  or  l~6-9.- 
^  The    doctrines    upon    whicli    those   teachei-s    insisted 

most,  were  the  deity  of  Jesus,  his  equality  with  the 
Father,  his  vicarious  suffering,  the  remission  of  sins 
through  his  blood,  the  depravity  of  man,  Justilication  by 
faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  his  instructions.  Some 
in  their  doctrine,  as  Clement,  Hernias  and  Barnabas  fol- 
low the  example  of  Paul,  and  others,  as  Ignatius  and 
Polycarp  that  of  Peter 

The  great  theological  question  was  the  [lerson  of 
Christ.  On  that  the  extreme  doctrines  were  those  of  the 
Docetae,  on  one  hand,  and  of  the  Ebionities,  on  the 
other,  while  Gnostics  wove  it,  according  to  their  fancies, 
into  the  speculations  of  their  philosophy. 

Extraordinary  offices  in  the  church  had  now  ceased. 
It  became  necessary  to  rely  upon  those  of  Presbyter 
and  Deacon  ;  which  already  began  to  be  subdivided  in 
some  churches.  *There  was  no  higher  rank  in  the  church 
than  the  Presbyter.  And  each  church,  with  its  session 
of  Presbyters,  administered  its  own  government  without 
subordination  to  any  ecclesiasticalsuperior.  A  Pres- 
byter was  so  called  from  the  custom  of  the  synagogue, 
the  name  being  only  the  Greek  word  for  elder;  but  by 
the  Greeks  he  was  also  called  an  overseer,  irzcrrxoTzo^, 
■  from  which  Bishop  is  an  English  derivative,  the  former 
being  a  title  of  rank,  and  the  latter  a  designation  of 
office. 


10 

Deacons,  originally  apiK)inted  to  distribute  alms  and 
relieve  the  apostles  of  secular  duties,  took  care  of  the 
poor  and  sick,  and  discliarg-ed  other  offices  standing 
between  the  churcli  and  the  world. 

Tliese  were  the  only  ordinary  officers  of  the  pi-iniitive 
church.  Knowledge  of  this  fact  was  retained  among 
christians  long  after  its  simplicity  liad  been  practically 
abandoned.  It  was  defended  as  historical  by  Hilary  of 
Rome  in  the  4th  century,  by  Jerome  in  the  5th,  by 
Isidore  of  Seville,  in  the  7th,  by  Anselm  in  tlie  11th,  l)y 
Peter  Lombard  in  the  12th,  and  others,  until  after  the 
revival  of  learning  in  the  14th,  it  became  again  more 
commonly  recognized. 

At  tirst  all  the  presbyters  of  a  church  were  bishops  ; 
but  on  any  occasion  of  public  worship,  one  of  tliem 
necessarily  presided.  Eor  each  to  have  taken  his  turn 
would  have  best  preserved  their  equality.  But  from  that 
method  they  early  departed,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
yielding  the  duty  of  presiding  to  one  of  tlieir  number, 
win)  thereby  became  more  specially  tlie  overseer,  or 
bishop  of  the  congi'egation.  In  course  of  time  it  was 
thought  expedient  to  determine  the  rule  tliat  there  should 
be  only  one  bishop  in  one  cliurch.  This  change  took 
place,  of  course,  gradually,  and  in  some  churches  sooner 
than  in  others.  It  manifests  itself  in  the  course  of  the 
second  century. 

Church  extension  proceeded  in  apostolic  times  by  the 
method  of  planting  each  new  congregation  as  a  separate 
church,  competent  to  its  own  government,  after  the 
model  constituted  everywhere  by  the  apostles.  But 
when  the  churches  of  the  great  cities  began  to  expand, 
and  new  congregations  to  proceed  from  them,  another 
method,  that  of  branch  churches,  was  gradually  gene- 
rated. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  period  the  emperor  Trajan 
was  on  the  throne,  and  reigned  until  117.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Hadrian,  from  117  to  138.  Neither  of  those 
emperors"  exhibited  any  animosity  against  christians,  and 
yet  within  their  time  christians  sulFered  much  at  the 
hands  of  local  rulers  and  the  people  of  certain  provinces. 
Priests  and  other  ministers   of  heathenism  were  exceed- 


20 

ingly  bitter  iis^aiiist  tlieni,  and  stirred  up  the  people  to 
iiuiltreat  tlieiii,  or  ])ioseeuted  tlieni  before  the  iiiagis- 
trates,  on  varions  false  charges.  Information  touching 
tliese  matters  did  not  always  reacli  the  emperor. 

An  important  contemporaneous  testimony  from  the 
lieat'hen  side  is  the  letter  of  the  younger  I'liny  from 
Bitliynia  to  Trajan.  Pliny  was  governor  ,of  Bithynia, 
where  chi-istianity  had  made  great  progress,  while  neither 
legally  allowed  nor  forbidden,  and  found  himself  called 
upon,  in  regard  to  those  charged  with  professing  its  faith, 
to  act  wliere  he  had  no  law,  tie  had  recourse  to  tlie 
emperor,  stating  distinctly  the  case  and  what  he  had  been 
able  to  learn  about  the  christians.  In  the  rescript  of 
Trajan,  written  ])rol)ably  in  104,  we  hav^e  the  first 
Roman  law  intelligently  addressed  to  the  subject.  It 
instructed  Pliny  not  to  distui'b  the  christians,  not  to  take 
action  in  regard  to  them,  urdess  brouglit  before  him  on 
a  delinite  charge  ;  but  if  so  accused  and  convicted  they 
were  to  be  punished  unless  they  denied  Christ,  and  were 
willing  to  adore  the  Roman  gods.  (Pliny's  Letters,  Book 
X.  letters  97,  98.)  Designed,  as  that  rescript  was,  to  put 
a  check  upon  unjust  prosecutions,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
in  the  [>rovinces  many  christians  suffered  under  it.s  sanc- 
tion. 

From  the  letter  of  Pliny  it  appears  that  christian  w'or- 
ship,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  w'as  still 
extremely  simple,  conducted  in  Bithynia  with  a  degree 
of  secrecy,  Tlieir  meetings  were  held  very  early  in  the 
morning,  Christ  was  tlie  object  of  their  adoration. 
They  observed  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  the  Love  Feasts 
frequently  :  and  held  themselves  under  oath  to  do  no 
wrong,  Tliey  were  disposed  to  submit  to  the  govern- 
ment in  all  things,  not  inconsistent  with  their  duty  to 
God.  But  could  not  be  induced  by  even  torture  and  the 
terrors  of  deatli  to  deny  Christ.  And  their  iniiuence 
was  vastly  greater  than  their  numbers.  Throughout 
Bithynia  the  observani^es  of  heathen  worship  had  almost 
ceased ;  the  temples  were  nearly  deserted,  and  victims 
for  sacrifice  could  scarcely  find  a  purchaser. 

In  the  reign  of  Hadrian  the  heathen  populace  pro- 
ceeded to  such  a  degree  of  animosity  as  to  clamor  for  the 


21 


execution  (U"  christians  in  the  arenji,as  part  of  tlie  enter- 
tainment at  the  public  festivals.  TIadi-ian  issued  a  rescript 
interdicting  such  inhuman  proceedings. 

Witliin  this  period  the  Jews  provoked  their  final 
reduction.^  In  Cyrene,  (A.  D.  116)  they  excited  an  insur- 
rection, which  extended  to  Egypt  and  Cyprus.  Another 
was  raised  by  them  in  Mesopotamia.  "^Another  in  132, 
under  their  leader  Bar  Cochab,  attempted  to  expel  the 
Rojnans  from  I*alestine.  In  the  war  whereby  that  insur- 
rection was  put  down,  Palestine  was,  in  185,  reduced 
almost  to  a  desert.  Jews  were  forbidden  to  visit  the 
ruins  of  Jerusalem  on  pain  of  death.  Only  once  a  year, 
on  the  anniversary  of  its  destruction,  were  tiiey  permitted 
to  view  the  place  from  a  distance.  A  new  town  subse- 
quently arose  there,  and  in  it  a  churcli  of  gentiles. 


The  next  division  of  this  period  may  be  most  charac- 
teristically designated  as  that  of  the  Primitive  Apolo- 
gists, in  whom,  during  the  middle  and  latter  jiart  of  the 
second  century,  the  church  had  her  ablest  defenders. 
The  productions  called  apologies  were  defences  of  christ- 
ians, written  for  the  purpose  of  being  presented  to  the 
emperor,  or  the  Roman  Senate.  When  Hadrian  upon 
his  imperial  tour  visited  Athens  in  126,  the  learnd  christ- 
ian Qnadratus  took  occasion  to  present  to  him  a  defense 
of  his  fellow  christians.  Another  was  presented  about 
the  same  time  by  Aristides.  A  third  was  written  by 
Agrippa  Castor,  about  135,  against  the  heresies  of  Basi- 
lides.  All  three  are  lost.  The  earliest  extant  work  of 
the  kind  is  that  of  Justin  Martyr,  addressed  to  the 
emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  about  139.  Another  was  pre- 
oared  by  the  same  author  between  161  and  166,  to  be 
presented  to  Marcus  Anrelius  and  Lucius  Verus,  col- 
leagues on  the  throne.  He  also  wrote  a  work  called  a 
Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew,  in  which  he  encounters 
tlie  objections  from  the  side  of  Judaism. 

Justin  was  a  native  of  Samaria,  born  of  Gentile  par- 
ents. He  sufiered  martyrdom  at  Rome  in  or  about  the 
vear  166. 


22 

Tatian,  a  friend  and  disciple  of  Justin,  wrote  an 
address  to  the  heathen  among  the  Greeks,  urging  the 
folly  and  grossness  of  heathenism,  and  the  purity  and 
wisdom  of  scripture. 

The  apology  of  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  was 
inscribed  to  a  friend,  one  Antolycus,  who  was  a  heathen, 
but  a  lover  of  truth,  and  [presents  evidences  for  christian 
truth,  drawn  from  both  scriptui'e  and  histor3\ 

Athenagoras  of  Athens  also  prepared  for  the  emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius  an  :n'gunient  in  defence  of  the  christ- 
ians. 

Irenaeus  about  170  wrote  liis  treatise  against  heresies, 
chiefly  the  heresies  of  the  gnostics.  Such  writings 
increased  in  number  towards  the  end  of  the  century,  but 
most  of  them  ai-e  no  lunger  extant.  Of  those  which 
remain  most  valuable  is  the  longer  apology  of  Justin. 
Its  topics  may  be  classified  under  the  following  heads. 

1.  "  Appeals  to  the  justice  of  the  ruling  powers,  and 
expostulations  with  them  on  tlie  unfairness  of  tlie  pro- 
ceedings against  chi'istians.'' 

2.  "  Refutations  of  the  charges  of  Atheism,  immo- 
rality and  of  disaffection  towards  the  emperor." 

3.  "  Direct  arguments  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  clirist- 
ianity  drawn  from  miracles  and  i)roi)hecy." 

4.  Exposure  of  the  baseness  and  absurdity  of  poly- 
theism and  idolatry,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  beneficial 
effects  of  christian  doctrine  upon  the  life  of  men. 

5.  Description  of  the  christian  rites,  customs  and 
manner  of  life. 

Among  the  literary  opponents,  whom  the  apologists 
had  to  encounter,  were  Celsus  the  Epicurean,  Crescens 
the  Cynic,  an(]  the  rhetorician  M.  C.  Fronto,  who  all 
flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  century.  Bitterest 
was  Celsus.  In  a  work  called  the  True  Account  he  col- 
lected all  the  arguments  against  Christianity,  which  he 
could  urge  with  any  degree  of  probability.  It  is  now 
known  only  in  the  refutation  of  it  by  Origen. 

The  arguments  against  Christianity  were  chiefly, 
1.  That  Jesus  was    of  low    birth,    and    brought    up 
among  the  ignorant,  the  vulgar  and  vicious,  and  that  lie 
suffered  an  ignominious  death  : 


^ 


23 

2._  That  Christianity  was  a  Jiovelty  ;  that  it  liad  not  the 
sanction  of  any  national  government;  that  it  had  com- 
menced aiuonor  l)ar1)arians,  that  its  facts  were  incredil)le, 
and  its  doctrines  absurd,  especially  those  of  regeneration 
and  the  resurrection  ;  that  different  portions  of  scripture 
contradicted  each  other,  and  that  it  demanded  a  blind 
and  unreasonable  faith. 

3.  Christians  were  charged  witli  Atheism,  with  the 
worship  of  a  crucified  malefactor,  with  being  poor  and 
uncultivated,  with  the  crime  of  creating  division  in  relig- 
ion and  society,  and  of  being  disloyal  to  their  country 
and  to  the  emperor,  with  a  superstitious  spirit,  fanatical 
and  dismal. 

4.  Sometimes  also  mystericusly  awful  crimes  were 
imputed  to  them,  as  that  of  indiscriminate  licentioiisness, 
of  eating  human  iiesh  and  blood,  of  devouring  children 
in  their  religious  feasts,  and  other  things  e(|ually  wild, 
the  fictions  of  alarmed  ignorance  and  heated  imagina- 
tions. 

Holding  such  belief  the  heathen  populace  certainly 
thought  that  they  had  abundant  cause  for  their  deadly 
hatred  to  the  followers  of  Christ. 

In  debate  with  Jews,  the  early  defenders  of  the  gospel 
found  common  ground  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures; 
and  their  aim  was  to  show  that  the  prophecies  and  types 
of  the  Messiah,  therein  contained,  were  all  fulfilled  in 
Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

With  heathen  tlie  controversy  was  partly  religious 
and  moral,  iiud  partly  political  and  social,  and  had  to  be 
debated  on  the  ground  of  admitted  moral  principle, 
good  sense,  demonstrable  truth  and  the  common  rights 
of  Roman  subjects.  It  was  the  external  morality  of 
those  early  witnesses  for  the  gospel  which  weighed  most 
in  their  favor,  and  the  change  which  passed  upon  wicked 
men  when  they  became  christian. 

It  was  when  the  stoic  philosopher  Marcus  Aurelius 
came  to  the  throne,  in  161,  that  persecution  received 
imperial  direction,  and  proceeded  upon  principle  and  by 
law. 

Commodus,  though  a  worse  man  than  his  father, 
proved  a  more  lenient  ruler  towards  the  christians.     At 


24 

the  end  of  tlie  second  century  their  number  liad  vastly 
increased  within  the  empire,  ihouo;li  under  mucli  oppres- 
sion, and  in  some  places  constrained  to  observe  their 
ordinances  in  secret. 

Concerning  the  doctrine  and  worship  of  christians  in 
the  second  century  we  learn  most  from  the  apologists. 
For  the'  works  of  theii'  Theologian  Arabianus,  and  of 
their  historian  Hegesippus,  have  perished. 

1.  They  worshijtped  Christ  as  God  proceeding  from 
the  Father,  not  as  a  holy  man,  but  as  the  Word  made 
ilesh,  the  Divine  nature  incarnate. 

2.  They  believed  tliat  tliC  Holy  Spirit  was  one  of  the 
persons  in  Godhead,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  Father 
and  Son  an  ol>ject  of  worsliip. 

3.  Of  man,  they  believed  that  he  was  created  capable 
of  choosing  right ;  but  capable  also  of  ti'ansgression,  and 
that  by  sinning  he  fell  in  Adam. 

4.  Justitication  tliey  assigned  entirely  to  the  merits 
of  Christ  as  its  ground  or  cause,  and  faith  they  held  to 
be  the  means  of  acceptance. 

5.  They  believed  in  such  a  degree  of  human  freedom 
that  men  were  accountable  for  their  actions. 

6.  They  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  in 
case  of  both  righteous  and  wicked,  the  eternal  blessed- 
ness of  the  former,  and  eternal  punisliment  of  the  latter. 

But  the  principal  point,  discussed  with  all  the  philo- 
sophical acumen  of  the  time,  was  the  person  of  Christ, 
and  his  place  in  various  theories  of  good  and  evil. 

Of  the  forms  of  their  worship  and  sacraments  we 
learn  also  some  interesting  particulars  from  tlie  same 
sources,  especially  from  Justin. 

1.  Of  Baptism  he  writes  tliat  it  had  taken  the  place 
of  circumcision;  accordingly  it  w^as  applied  to  infants. 

2.  It  was  administered  by  affusion,  by  immersion,  or 
by  sprinkling,  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Spirit.  Only  water  was  used.  No  other 
ceremony  is  mentioned  as  connected  with  it. 

3.  The  day  whicli  is  called  Sunday  Justin  says  was 
kept  by  them,  because  on  that  day  of  the  week  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the  dead.  On  that  day  the  people 
in  town  and  country  met  in  their  respective  places  of 
wors'.'.ip. 


25 

(a  )  III  those  lueetiiio-s  the  meiuoii-s  of  the  apostles, 
or  \vritiiio;s  of  the  prophets  were  read  to  siieh  leiii^th  as 
time  [jerinitted. 

(h.)  Then  the  hrothiM-  wlio  presided  deli\ered  a  dis- 
eourse,  in  whieh  he  instructed  the  jteople,  and  exiiorted 
them  to  the  imitation  of  those  excellent  examples. 

jc.)  After  tiiat,  they  all  rose  togetliei,  and  offered  up 
their  prayers. 

(d.)  Aftei-  prayer,  hread  was  hron^-lit.  and  wine  and 
water.  And  attain  the  brother  who  presided  offered  up 
[irayer  and  tliankso-ivini;-  at'cording-  to  his  ability,  and  the 
people  ex]iressed  their  assent  by  saying  "  Amen."' 

Justin  makes  no  mention  of  singing.  But  elsewhere 
that  element  of  worsiiip  a[)pears  witli  sufKcient  clearness. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  ciiristian 
meetings  as  they  were  described  to  Pliny.  Wliere  Justin 
worshipped,  it  seems  tli;it  the\  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Suppei'  every  Lord's  day.  lie  desci-ibes  the  administra- 
tion of  tliat  ordinance,  more  particidarly. 

1  After  the  pi'ayer  which  closed  the  ordinary  ser- 
vices, the  peo[)le  saluted  one  another  with  a  kiss. 

2.  Then  to  that  one  of  ihe  brethren  who  presided 
there  was  brought  bread,  an<l  a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with 
water. 

8.  And  he  taking  them  offered  up  thanks  and  praise 
to  the  Fathei-  of  all,  through  the  name  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  II(»ly  Ghost. 

4.  When  he  had  tinished  the  |)i'ayer,  and  offering  of 
thanks,  all  the  people  present  assented  by  saying 
"  Amen." 

5.  Then  the  Deacons  gave  to  each  of  tliose  who  were 
present  to  partake  of  tlie  bi-ead,  and  of  the  wine  and 
water,  and  to  carry  away  some  for  those  who  were  absent 

6.  In  tliat  ordinance  only  those  were  allowed  to  par- 
take,Jvvho  professed  their  belief  in  tb.ose  things  which  were 
taught  in  the  church,  were  baptized,  and  endeavored  to 
live  as  Christ  commandedr 

7.  Tlie  bread  Justin  speaks  of  as  what  Christ  had 
commanded  to  be  offered  in  rememl)rance  of  his  being- 
made  flesh,  iiiid  tlie  cup  as  that  which  ne  commanded  to 
be  offered  in  remembrance  of  his  blood. 


26 


8.  lie  does  not  Tiiciitioii  the  posture  of  the  eoininnni- 
eunts  ;  but  from  that  fact  it  may  be  inferred,  as  well  as 
from  the  statement  that  the  Deacons  distributed  the  ele- 
ments, that  it  was  the  same  which  they  occupied  wjien 
listening- to  the  precedingsermon  and  readino^.  For  theii- 
change  of  posture  in  piayer  he  does  mention. 

9.  Aftei-  the  service,  a  collection  was  taken  up  for  the 
pool'. 

Besides  the  Lord's  Day,  many  christians  still  kept  tlie 
ffewish  Sabhath,  and  the  Jewish  (^hi'istian  practice  of 
observing  certain  annual  festi\'als  was  gi'adnaily  gaining 
gr(nind  among  the  Gentile  churches.  It  was  also  com- 
mon to  fast  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays.  The  annual 
commemoration  of  the  Loi'd's  suffering,  death  and  i-esur- 
rection  was  also  genertd  in  the  churches  both  east  and 
\vest.  But  they  differed  in  the  way  of  obsei'vins^  it.  By 
the  end  of  the  century  a  serious  coMtrr)versy  arose  between 
them  on  that  subject. 

That  Period  which  opened  with  tlie  accession  of  Nerva  ^ 
A.D.  96,  and  closed  in  the  death  of  Mai-cus  Aurelins(i^O,)  0  • 
was  the  most  pi'osperous  and  tranrpiil  in  the  histoiw  of 
imperial  Jiome.  The  facilities  for  publication  of  the 
gospel,  notwithstanding  local  and  (K'casional  jiersecu- 
tions,  were  unprecedented.  The  empire  had  reached  its 
utmost  extent,  was  most  of  the  time  in  peace,  the  fear 
or  reverence  of  it  was  u[ion  all  the  woi-Jd,  delegates  from 
Antoninus  went  even  as  far  as  China,  and  the  wants, 
natural  and  artificial,  of  so  many  great  cities  made 
demands,  which  the  most  distant  l)arl)arous  nations  found 
tlieir  ]U"oiit  in  supplying. 

When  from  relying  upon  the  counsel  of  an  inspired 
apostle  the  church  came  to  employ  the  judgment  'of 
uninspired  teacdiers,  man_y  difficulties  beset  her  way. 
One  of  these  was  philosophical  speculation  of  that  style 
which  bore  the  genei'al  name  of  Gnosis.  It  was  not  new, 
but  reached  its  maturity  in  the  second  century,  witliin 
the  time  of  the  Primitive  Apologists. 

Christian  Gnosticism  was  a  theory  oi  good  and  evil, 
liow  they  arose,  an<l  how  they  co-exist,  and  how  the  per- 
sons of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  stand  in  relation 
to  them.     Its  fundamental  elements  were. 


l._  A  great  uiid  IidIv  spirit,  ctorual,  uiicliangeahK' 
and  iutiiiite,  tlu'  source" of  all  life  and  g-ood ;  hut^iiiaet- 
ive, —  the  tranquil  reservoir  of  holiness  and  jtowor. 

2.  The  world  of  matter,  exi>iing  also  from  all  eternitv. 
but  inactive,  and  coiitainiiig  in  itself  the  [jrinciples  of 
evil. 

3.  The  union  of  sjjirit  and  nnitter,  wliieli  was  tem- 
porary, and  [n-oduetive  of  the  mitnral  or  im[)rfeeet. 

4.  The  rult^r  of  the  natural  woi-ld  was  the  Demiurgns, 
or  master  spirit,  who  created  it  by  combining  the  contra- 
dictory elements  of  s|iirit  and  matter. 

5.  ti^ouls  of  men  were  rays  of  light  wdiich  had  come 
from  the  eternal  spirit.  In  theii-  earthly  condition  they  are 
continually  striving  to  obtain  deliverance  from  fetters  of 
the  Deniiurgus  and  of  matter,  and  thereby  to  return  into 
the  region  of  the  [lure  and  s[iiritual. 

6.  Christ  was  one  of  the  liighest  sjtirits  of  light,  who 
connected  himself  with  the  body  of  Jesus,  to  assist  men 
in  effecting  that  end. 

The  various  schools  of  Gnosticism  differed  from  each 
(jther  chiefly  in  their  way  of  representing  the  imperfect. 
Tliat  of  Alexandria  effected  it  by  emanations.  But 
theorie.s  of  emanations  differed  among  themselves. 

1.  13asilides  taught  that  seven  secoridary  powers 
emanated  from  God.  From  these  eunmated  other  seven, 
and  from  these  again  a  third  class,  and  so  on,  until  there 
were  thi'ee  hundred  sixty-five  kingdoms  of  spirits,  each  of 
which  possess(>d  a  feebler  degree  of  [lower  in  goodness 
tlian  the  preceding,  arid  the  seven  angels  of  the  lowest 
heaven  came  into  contact  with  matter,  and  their  ehief 
became  the  creator  of  the  world,  the  Demiurgus. 

Men,  at  so  irreat  a  distance  as  they  were  from  God, 
bound  u\)  with  nnitter  in  creation,  were  inextricably 
involved  in  darkness  and  evil.  To  deliver  their  souls 
from  that  bondage,  the  Nous,  the  first  spirit  of  the  highest 
oi'der,  entered  the  man  Jesus, at  his  baptism,  and  rennuned 
connected  with  him  until  just  before  ids  death. 

2.  Valentinus,  also  an  Egyptian,  removed  abt)Ut  140 
to  Rome.  His  ^J^eromrMvas  simpler  than  tliat  of  Basilidc:,. 
It  consisted  of  fifteen  male  ami  as  nuuiy  fenuile  aeons, 
who  all   enuunited   from   Bythos,    the  de})ths    of  Deity. 


From  the  last  of  these  proceeded  a  being;  called  Aelia- 
inoth,  winch  had  no  longer  power  onou^^h  to  retain  its 
place  within  the  Pleronsa,  and  so  came  into  contact  with 
matter,  and  communicating  the  germ  of  life  thereto, 
formed  the  Deniiurgus  or  creator  of  the  world. 

Christ  and  the  Holy  Sj)irit  were  two  new  aeons,  who 
came  to  restore  the  disturbed  harmony  of  the  Pleroma. 

o.  A  tliird  brancli  of  Alexandrian  Gnosticism  was 
that  of  the  Ophites.  In  their  doctrine,  the  first  man, 
the  second  man,  i.  c.  the  son  of  man,  and  the  TTolv 
Spirit  emanate  separately  from  Bythus.  From  the  last 
through  means  of  the  former  two,  pi-ocecd  the  })erfect 
masculine  light-naturo,  the  Christ,  and  the  defective 
female  nature,  Sophia,  or  wisdom.  So])liia  sought  to 
defeat  the  oppessive  designs  of  the  world  creator  tln-ough 
the  serpent  of  the  first  temptation.  The  ofKce  assigned 
to  Christ  was  the  same  as  in  the  theory  of  Yalentinus. 

II.  Among  the  Gnostics  of  Syria  a  simple  dualism 
prevailed.  Their  princijial  representative,  Saturninus  of 
Antioch,  (between  125  and  150)  taught  that  there  was 
an  original  evil  Being,  the  everlasting'antagonist  of  God, 
an(l  that  in  accordance  with  these" two  powers,  both 
active,  there  are  two  classes  of  men,  one  instigated  by 
the  evil  Being,  and  the  other  by  the  good. 

_  III.  The  Gnosticism  of  Asia  Miimr  is  represented 
chiefly  by  Marcion,  a  native  of  Sinope,  who  came  to 
Home,  and  studied  with  the  Gnostic  Cerdo,  between  140 
and  150.  In  Marcion's  system  there  are  three  original 
principles,  the  holy,  tlie"  riirhteous,  and  the  wicked, 
embodied  in_  God.  the  Demiurgus,  and  the  Devil.  As  in 
other  Gnostic  systems,  matter'is  essentially  evil.  Men 
were  under  the  merely  righteous  Demiurgus  ;  and  from 
hjm  could  expect  only  justice.  To  fi'ee  them  from 
hisseverity,  Christ  took  the  appearance  of  a  body  among 
them,  aiid  revealed  to  them  the  holv  God,  and'the  wav 
of  obtaining  Iiis  favor. 

Such  fanciful  theories  admitted  of  endless  diversity 
of  treatment.  The  sect  called  Ophites  lasted  long.-st, 
and  were  still  in  existence  as  late  as  530.  Gnosticism 
embraced  elements  of  both  Ebionism  and  Docetism,  but 
held  nearest  affinity  to  the  latter. 


,r 


29 


Aljout  1*^0.  a  scH't  arose  in  lMir_vi;-ia,  iiikKt  tlic  teach- 
ing of  Montanus  of  Ardaban.  al'terwai'ds  of  Pepuza, 
which  held  that  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Sjjirit  consists 
in  extraordinary  excitement,  tliat  Scripture  was  not  cotn- 
jdeted  by  the  apostles,  bnt  admitted  of  further  revela- 
tion ;  that  Montanus  and  his  assot-iates,  Maximilhi  and 
Priscilla,  were  divinely  inspired,  and  possessed  the  gift 
of  propliesying.  They  also  pi-actised  numerous  austeri- 
ties, attached  great  value  to  celibacy  and  martyrdom  : 
and  proclaime(l  the  end  of  the  woi-ld,  and  the  millennial 
reigii  of  Clirist  to  be  near  at  hand,  'i'he  prophecies  ot 
Montanus  and  his  fennde  associates  were  in  most  cases, 
if  not  all,  committed  to  writing,  and  esteemed  by  their 
followers  as  belonging  to  H<dy  Scripture,  and  cotnpleting 
the  Christian  Kevelation. 

Montanists,  driven  from  Asia  Minor  by  persecution, 
found  i-efuge  in  Northern  Africa,  whei'e,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the^  third  century,  they  had  an  able  advocate  in 
Terndlian. 

In  resistino-  Montanisni  another  party  rushed  to  an^ 
opposite  eNtienie,and  not  oidy  denied  the  continuance  ot 
the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  but  also  the  doctrine 
of  the  divine  Logos,  and  rejected  the  gospel  according 
to  John,  in  wliieli  it  is  principally  taught,  and  tlie  book 
of  Revelation,  because  of  the  Chiliasm,  whicii  was  then 
defended  by  it.  The  Alogi,  as  that  party  was  sometimes 
called,  seein  to  have  accepted  Christ  as  a  mere  man  or  as 
deified  by  the  indwelling  of  God  the  Father. 

Among  the  philosophic  sects  of  the  heathen  the  most 
friendly  to  Christianity  was  the  Platonic;  and  the  firmest 
opposition  was  exliibi'ted  by  the  Stoics.  Some  doctrines 
which  Platonism  aro-ued,  Christianity  revealed  ;  but  the 
pretensions  of  the  Stoics  to  a  faultless  morality  i^t  rejected. 
But  that  was  the  strong  point  of  Stoicism.  There  was 
abundant  reason  in  the  natural  heart  for  Stoic  hostility 
to  christians.  Accordingly,  when  Marcus  Aurelius,  an 
illustrious  member  of  that  sect,  came  to  the  throne  (A. 
D  161)  persecution  was  ordered  against  them  with  an 
intellii^ent  animosity,  which  had  not  previously  been 
evinced  by  an  empei'or.  It  was  then  tliat  Justin  sufiered 
death  at  Rome,  (166)  the  aged  Polycarp  at  bmyrna^and 


,30 

the   recently  formed   clinrclies   in   Lyons   and  Y\e 


nne  in 


Ganl  had  their  faith  severely  tried  (in  177.)  Spies  and 
mtoriners  were  enconrnged  to  bring  christians  to  trial, 
and  the  agency  of  persecution  was  i"n  the  local  trihnnaU 
sustained  by  the  imperial  authority. 

From  contemporaneous  statements  it  appears  that, 

1.  It  was  distinctly  for  their  doctrine  that  christians 
were  then  persecuted.  —  A&vi./  A/   U..  o.^   Uu/kt^e-y-  Sy-^u<^i^C 

2.  The  purpose  of  the  emperor,  though  s]»rino;iiio- 
from  a  different  cause,  coincided  with  the  feelings  of  tlu- 
heathen  public,  to  whose  bitterness  and  savage  nature 
the  style  of  the  executions  was  due 

3.  Local  niagistrates  were  sometimes  forced  beyond 
all  legal  forms  by  the  demands  of  the  mob. 

4.  Jews  retained  their  old  maliginty.  though  no  longer 
in  condition  to  execute  it  of  thenrselve^        "  ^ 

5.  The  endurance  of  the  mai-tyrs  at  that  time  was  due 
to  christian  faith,  not  to  mere  physical  energy  or  impas- 
sive nerves,  nor  to  the  fanaticism  Of  martyrdom. 

6.  It  was  the  superior  claims  of  tlie  Cinistian-"  God, 
and  the  (h)ctrine  of  the  resurrection  and  the  life  in  CMirist 
which  chictiy  exaspei'ated  the  rage  of  tlie  heathen. 

Among  the  sources  of  christian  history  foi- the  second 
century,  there  are  fifteen  espistles  -undcM-  the  name  of 
Ignatius.  They  were  all  published  for  u-enuine  as  late 
cis  during  the  16th  century.  But  three  of  them,  written 
in  Latin  were  ^uon  discovered  to  be  s[>urious  ;  subsequent 
criticism,  in  a  few  years  dearly  exposed  the  false  pre- 
tensions <)f  tive  moi-e.  Bishop  Pearson,  an  English 
divine  of  the  17th  century,  in  a  learned  treatise,  defended 
the  genuineness  of  lihe  remaining  seven.  Tli.se  exisf  in 
tw()  tbrms,  a  longer  and  a  sliorter.  It  was  the  shorter 
which  from  about  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century 
came  to  be  generally  accepted  as  genuine. 

But   in    1843  certain    ancient    inanuscri[>ts    of   three 
/_    .       ,  Ignatian  epistles  in   tlie  Syriac   language  were   brought 

/W^M,  /c^--  f'l'cmi  a  monastery  in  Egypt,  and  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum,  which  hav'e  re-opened  the  controversy,  which  is 
not  yet  at  an  end.  So  far  as  a  conclusion  has  been 
reached,  it  is  to  throw  doubt  on  tlie  whole  seven.  Some 
critics  consider  the  three  in  Syriac,  as   the  only  genuine 


31 


epistles  of  Ignatius;  olliers  can  sec  n(»  siitiicieiit  reason 
for  exceptiiiii'  tlie  tliree  from  the  sweepiini.' coiKleninatioii 
oi*  forgery  passed  upon  the  rest. 

Althongli  it  seems  most  probable  lliat  some  genuine 
letters  of  Ignatius  constituted  the  foundation  of  tlie 
structni-e,  it  has  been  utterly  ruined  for  direct  use  in 
histoi-y.      Only  indirectly  can  its  evidence  be  of  any  value.' 

The  spirit  of  tb.e  seven  ejjistles  is  tliat  of  inordinate 
liierarchieal  pretension,  such  as  that  the  "  Deacons  are  to 
be  reverenced  as  Jesus  Chi'ist,  ihe  I^ishop,  as  God  the 
Fathei'.  and  the  Presl)yters  as  the  Sanhedrim  of  God, 
and  college  of  tlie  a[)ostles." 

2.  The  second  century  from  (he  end  of  its  first  quarter 
onwai'd,  was  a  i)eriod  fei'tile  in  heresies.  Without  a 
systematic  theology  to  sustain  and  restrain  them,  and 
with  a  terminology  general  and  undefined,  men  ran  wild 
in  siteculation.  Eai'ly  cliristians  uninsjiired  had  no  more 
certainty  of  being  always  in  the  rii^ht  than  christians  of 
later  days ;  and  from  lack  of  experience  were  more 
likely  to  make  mistakes. 

Knowledge  of  the  heresies  of  that  tinie,  especially  of 
Gnosticism,  is  best  ol)tained  from  Irenaeus  who  came 
from  Smyrna  into  Gaul  as  a  missionary,  and  after  the 
death  of  Pothinus  in  177,  became  bishop  of  the  cliurch 
in  Lyons,  where  he  continued  to  labor  until  his  death. 
The  best  exponent  of  Montanism  is  Tertullian. 

During  this  period  the  ]»i'incipal  efforts  of  christian 
writers  were  addressed  to  evidences  of  tlie  truth  of  their 
religion,  and  of  its  benign  effects  upon  private  life  and 
the  order  of  society,  and  counteract  the  progress  of  heresy. 
Tlie  oldest,  and  still  the  best  of  the  creeds,  called  the 
Apostles'  is  now  mentioned.  It  occurs  in  various  forms 
in  Irenaeus,  Tertullian  and  OrigeiK  And  from  the  fact 
that  it  does  appear  under  sucli  a  variety  of  forms,  there 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  apostolic  in  any  other 
sense  thaii  tliat  of  presenting  a  summary  of  the  Apostles' 
teaching. 

Though  cliristians  had  their  honored  traditions. 
Scripture  was  the  standard  of  their  faith.  It  is  continu- 
ally quoted  in  their  writings.  Their  familiarity  with  it 
was  very  remarkable.     Eusel)ius  speaks  of  iiersons  who 


32 

could  re[>eat  at  will  any  re(|uii'e(l  passage  fi-oiii  either  tlu' 
01(1  or  New  Testament. 

The  Greek  originals  of  the  New  Terjtament  vvere  gen- 
erally in  nse,  both  in  the  East  and  West,  and  the  Septu- 
agint,  or  Old  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament.  But 
translations,  for  instruction  of  the  unlearned,  were  at  an 
early  date  made  into  Latin.  One  of  the  oldest,  perlia{)s, 
of  those  versions  wa'^  the  Itala,  which  in  course  of  time 
came  to  be  very  highly  esteemed  and  commonly  used. 
Another  Latin  version  it  is  thought  existed  in  Gaul  ;  and 
a  third  must  have  been  made  within  the  same  period  for 
the  use  of  ti;e  churches  in  Africa. 

External  uniformity  was  not  enforced  over  the 
churches  by  any  central  authdrity,  nor  by  any  all  com- 
hending  general  government.  C'oiHvlinate  churches  lield 
more  or  less  intercourse  by  letter,  and  by  transfer  of 
meml)ers  from  one  to  another,  and  in  cases  of  common 
dangei',  cdiurches  of  the  same  province,  or  even  of  more 
extensive  tracts  of  country,  held  councils  or  conferences 
together.  And  all  the  churches  treated  each  other  as 
members  of  one  great  commonwealth,  and  all  adliered  to 
fundamentally  the  same  system  of  poliiy,  di6ci[)line  and 
\vors]ii[).  And  all  cifdmed  the  right  of  interfering  with 
remonstrance  and  reproof  where  any  (U)e  had  .de[iarted 
from  the  common  standard. 


An<^ther  section  of  ihis  period  of  church  history  is 
marked  by  the  rise  to  distinction  of  the  great  christian 
schools,  whereb}'  the  cdiaracter  of  learning,  or  erudition 
is  for  the  first  time  attached  to  Christian  literature. 
That  may  be  considered  as  the  princijial  feature  of  church 
progress  until  the  rise  of  the  controversy  on  episcopal 
rights  and  prerogatives.  The  section  beg-ins  with  the 
persecution  under  8eptimius  Severus  in  :^02,  and  closes 
with  the  legalizing  of  Christianity  by  Gallienus  in    2GL 

The  men  whose  lives  and  labors  express  the  special 
purpose  of  the  }>eriod  are  its  great  scholars  and  theolog- 
ians; in  Greek,  Pantaen  us,  Julius  African  us,  LLippolytus, 
and  others;  and  in  the  Latin,  Tertullian,  Minutius 
Felix    and    Cyprian.       The    quarters   in  which  christian 


33 

learning  appeared  wirli  gi-eatest distinction  were  Kgvpt, 
Syria,  Asia  Minor  and  Xortli  Africa  :  and  eliiel'  of  all, 
the  great,  eniporinin  of  Alexandria  in  Kg3[)t. 

From  earliest  date  in  tiie  history  of  the  (diureh  it  was 
cuHtornary  to  [)rovide  instruction  for  children  and  convertti 
fi-orn    heathenism.      The   method    employed    was   chiefly   -^f^'^'^'  —  ^'-''' 
oral,  althongh  no  doubt  books  were  also  used.      The  term    •»,  V. i tfy^^i*  S . 
;f«r,^;f£.'v,  or  xar->^j^f'^<«;,  was  employed  in  relation  to  it.      The     ' 
name  given   to  tlie  work  xo-riyf.ac^^  and   the  persons  so      /  ,<  -r    ■    jr 

instructed  were  xazY/ounevuc,  &C'.       -^^^s^^i^-^  -     '-c-t  .  /  u  C  t^f.  orf  /Ca,1  »j;  ^tTtj 

Besides  these  schools,  a  more  advanced  education 
was  provided  for  those  wlio  were  to  be  ministei's  of  the 
gospel. 

Of  all  the  church  schools  both  for  catechumens  and 
for  ministers  the  most  '"iiinent  were  those  of  Antioch 
and  of  iVIexandria,  and  although  not  so  much  is  said 
about  the  schools  in  Carthage,  that  cit\-  was  distinguished 
by  its  gifted  and  learned  men. 

xVthenagoras,  one  of  the  primitive  apologists,  is  men- 
tioned as  a  teacher  in  Alexandria  in  the  second  century. 
But  if  was  when  Pantaenus  and  his  pupil  Clement  were 
united  in  the  management  of  its  instructions,  in  the  tirst 
years  of  the  third  century,  that  it  began  to  take  its  place 
at  the  head  of  christian  schools. 

It  was  distinguished  from  the  3Iouse/o)i,  that  is,  the 
polvtheistic  universitv  of  the  Ptolemies,  bv  the  name 
Didascaldon.  There  christian  theology  was  lirst  sub- 
jected to  scientific  treatment,  in  the  exigencies  of  cate- 
chetical instruction  and  of  apologetics,  in  defence  against 
Jews,  heretics,  and  lieathen.  Alexandria  was  at  once  the 
chief  seat  of  Polytheistic  and  of  Jew^ish  learning,  and 
from  it  issued  the  most  elaborate  and  ingeniously  con-  "  . 

structed  Gnosticism.  The  reputation  of  the  christian 
school,  built  up  by  Pantaenus  and  Clement,  was  sus- 
tained by  the  uncommon  intellectual  endowments  of 
Origen/oy  far  the  most  learned  and  laborious  man  of  his 
day.  • 

After  the  withdri.wal  of  Origen  in  231,  the  Didasca- 
leion  was  conducted  by  his  pupil  Ileraclas  until  233,  and 
until  248,  by  Dionysius,  whose  reputation  in  ancient 
times  w^'is  equal  to  that  of  Clement  and  Origen.     In  those 


34 

men  did  the  christian  scliool  of  Alexandria  see  the  higli- 
est  point  of  her  erudition.  Most  of  their  writings  have 
perished,  exoej)t  tliose  of  tlie  two  hist  named.  Clement  is 
most  valnable  in  the  field  of  paedagogie  and  antiquities, 
Origen,  in  that  of  Biblical  scliolarship  and  theology. 
His  views  of  doctrine  guided  tlie  thinking  of  a  large 
numbei'  of  the  Fninistrx  for  many  generations,  and  some 
of  the  most  bitterly  debated  heresies  had  theii-  root  in 
his  teaching. 

Meanwhile  the    Syrian   school,  which   had  its  seat  at 
Antioch,    was    rising   towards   that   eminence,   which    it 
matured  a  hundred  years  later.      In  tlie  eai'ly  })art  of  the 
third  century  its  greatest  oi-nament  was  Julius  Africunus, 
^'  who  was  not  liowe\er  a  native  of  Antioch,  but  of  Emmaus 

in    Palestine,    where    most    of  his    life    was    spent.      His 
•   principal  work  was  Annals  of  the  world  from  the  creation, 
-Ct^«^^^\)f  which  only  parts  are  extant.     He  died  in  232. 
'r\0    r  ru  <^^-**^  ■  After  the  death  of  Comniodus,  in  102,  we  entei'  upon 

*^    '  a  new  [)eriod   of  imperial    history.     From   the   death  of 

Julius  CtBsai",  regard  for  him  had  conferred  the  accumu- 
lated honors  upon  his  legal  heir,  and  as  long  as  adoption 
continued  the  succession  the  en)pire  was  hereditary  in 
his  family.  With  the  death  of  Nero  that  came  to  an 
end  ;  and  appointment  to  the  highest  office  was  grasped 
by  the  army.  Corrected  early  b^-  the  accession  of  the 
Flavian  family,  that  evil  was  successfully  repelled  for  a 
much  longer  time  by  the  wise  method  of  Nerva,  which 
secured  a  steady  rule  until  the  death  of  Commodus. 
Then  all  clieck  upon  election  by  the  army  being  removed 
the  decline  of  Imperial  authority  began.  Pertinax  was 
„.f_^-     , ,  raised  to  the  throne,  but  retained  it  only  three   months. 

'.vi^  |0(ovA.«^--  Didius  Julian  us  purchased  it  by  a  hirge  bounty  to  the 
Pretorian  guard  ;  but  lost  it  together  with  his  life  in 
about  two  months.  More  reliable  military  support  sus- 
tained other  candidates,  among  wliom  Scptimius  Severus 
with  the  army  of  Illyricum  proved  successful.  The  Pre- 
torian guards  were  disbanded,  and  Severus  organized  in 
their  stead  a  new  force,  more  numerous,  and  for  himself 
more  reliable.  He  proved  a  stern,  but  successful  ruler, 
both  in  peace  and  war.  After  a  campaign  of  great 
exposure  in  Britain,  he  died  at  York,  in  211  having 
reigned  from  193. 

>M^^     CCw   U^Ccco-w.  -'FnrC'-^    (^U-^-^     tt-rC*X^-|»|^T  '>l^^      Y  /  C^     -C>^ 


35 

In  the  first  years  of  Severiis,  Cliristiaiis  suft'cred  only 
from  the  aiiiiiiosity  of  the  heathen  |)o]»nhice  and  some  of 
the  pi'ovineial  g'overnor.-^.      But  in  202  an  imjieriul  edict"*'.  '' 
was  issued  forbidding  any  wlio  were  heathen    to  heconic  •  .tv^-.--  f^' 

christian.      Of  course  it    bore   heaviest    nj)on    those  wlio       '    „    \  cIwaIc^  <mv~- 
conducted'christian  worshipand  the  schools  of  thechiirch.  P'-"«'r^ 
It  was  thus  that  Clement  and  Pantaenus  were  driven  from    '        '  .  ,    L 

tlieir  work  in    Alexandria,  that   Leonidas,  the   father   of     j[y^^'^^^'yj\j-. 
OriiJi-en,  was  brouii'ht  to  the  block,  and  that  Potamiaena,      -r  ^      p.  ^^ 

Perpetua,  and    r  elicitas,  and    many   othei's   sealed    tlieii-  r    l  i.uJC '•' ^ 

testimony  with  tlieir  bUxxh  sC>ir^UAjJk^^  ^^^^ 

In    tlie    reign    of  ('aracalla,  the   son   and  siucessor  of 
Severus,    the   Roman    empire   began   to   experience   the 
effects  of  waning  power.     The  emperor  impoverished  his   .     r 
subjectts  to  pam[ier  the  army,  and  purchased  the  privilege  ^  a*^^'*^'^*"'^'        . 
of  peace  from  liis  enemies       Having  made  liimself  odious    OilKjr*^  ^  '^^hjJ: 
at   Rome,  he  extended     Roman    citizensliip    to    all    the  ^  .^^^-^'^'^''^  ^^|  '  ^' 
sultjec'ts  of  the  empire,  and  witlidrew  from  tlie  city.     He    ''^'    ' 
was  put  to  death  by  Macrinus,  Prefect  of  the   I'retorian 
guard,  (in    217.)     The  assassin    took    his  phu-e,  but  was 
shiin  next  year  by  the  soldiers,  who  set  up  ITeliogabalus,  (/u- j(»^-+-  '^  (. '-'-'■^j '^-'    M 
a    iioy    of  fourteen   years    of  age.      At   the   end    of  four-  Co^  c- fA>^*-<^' 
years  the  boy-emperor,  precocious  in  proHigacy,  met  the 
fate  he  had  ordered  for  many  otliers.      In  222  Alexander 
Severus  succeeded  to  the  throne.     ()ne  of  his  first  acts  was  ^ 
to  revoke  all  edicts  against  chris'ians.      Ilis  mother  Juli.i  -<»  1'' V 
Alammaea  was  so  friendly  to  then)  that  many  believed  lier   5^^-^'^  • 
one  of  their  number.      The  liberality  of  Alexander  was  -^^i^s^^^  ^ 
extended   to  the  great   and  good  of  every   name.     His     ^    ^ 
domestic  chapel  contained  busts  standing  for  Abraham, 
for  Christ,  Orpheus,  and  Apollonius  of  Tyana;  and   the 
golden  rule  of  Christ  he  had  inscribed  upon  the  walls  of 
his  palace. 

In    the    fourth   year   of   his    reign,    Persian    nation-,,      _         v;i\. .       "- 
ality  was   revived   under  Ardishir  Babegan,   who   over-  !•  wiax-<^->Jx 
threw  the  Parthians,  renewed  the  claims  of  the  successors  «^V'^'^^*'  ^" 
of  Cyrus,  and  prepared  to  drive  the  Romans  from  Asia.      ,;,        ^  ;- ■^>>,^,  f 
The  Avestan  religion  was  restored,  and  Christians  were    ^^^'■'■'',  *  J,^r^\' 
driven  back  into  tlie  empire,  or  subjected  to  severe  oppres-  ifol'^Wi'  "■    ^^  ^  ^ 
sion  ;  the   beginning  of  long  continued   persecution   in  1^,-v^c^L  ^     jJuJy>  • 
that  quarter.  "  Sassanide  princes  recognized  no  such  afSn-  ^^Ttft-  ^*^  ^''^^  ' 


irv  between  tlieir  .lo-'eiieiate  Avestanism  and  the  o-ospel 
of  Cnii-ist,  as  tlieir  liem  Cynis  had  recoo-nizodlKTtween 
the  Avestaji  faith  of  his  day  and  the  reliirioii  of  the 
Jews. 

The   first    Persian    invasion    Alexander   sueeessfuHv 

^.u^.J.  tiFnrf>  ^^^    resisted;    and    hid    turned    his    victorious  arms    ao-ainst 

j3tC^-c^  -r-      enemies  m  tlie  nortli,  when  lie  was   murdered.      He   had 

I       .      ,       .     ^,      reigned  thirteen   years.      Maxiniin,  a  Thracian.   was   ele- 

\,^^^^o^y^\     vated    by    tlie    army.      He    exhibited    Ids    hatred  to  the 

v.»...VaM.<J-JJJ     christians    by   indulo-iiicr    the    heathen    popidace  in  their 

,^,  \n->^    ■  .    eruelties  to  them,  and  directino- his  own  attacks  upon  their 

cleriry.      At   tlie   end   of  about   ihree   \ears    (288^  lie  was 

slain  by  his  own  soldiers. 

In  this  instance  the  senate  at  Home  disputed  the  rii^ht 

ot  the   army  in    the   north    to    ajipoint   a    master  for 'tlie 

eiiij.ire,  and  favored   tlie   election   of  (^ordian,  proconsul 

■     '      uc.vv.     *^^   A^'-i^'a:   and    when    he    was    slain,    transferred    their 

"^  '"VtWcv.^  •     1"'^^^,^''^"^^  to  a  youno-er  member  of  his  familv.  a   boy  of 

"•■--  ^^  t^yelve  years.      At  the  end  of  six  years  the  youno-er  Uor- 

dian  was  murdered  by  order  of  Philip  the  Arabian    who 

•  assumed  the  purple  in  his  stead. 

Under  tlie  jurisdiction  of  Gordian  the  churches  were 
not  molested  ;   and  l^hilip  was  even  friendly.      In  249  he 
was    defeated    in    battle  with   Decius,  and  slain.      Decins 
.  marked  his  reign  by  issuing  in  249,  an  or.ler  to  all   gov- 
ernors of  [.rovinces  to  return  to  the  ancient  state  reliijion 
^,    and  to  entorce  it  by  the  severest  penalties,  thereby  fiisti- 
;w.  ;.ua^*^9/^  'V^''^-^"^'"^  '']'''  '^^  ^^'6  '"'^st  sanguinary  perse<Mitioiis  that  the 
I  twv>--^'"        •    .  «'^u»'t'h   bas  ever  been   called  to  endure.      It  extended  to 
Jhe  whole  empire.     It  was  also  occasion  of  much  subse- 
^  quent  controversy  touching  the  discipline  of  those  who 
an  had  succumbed  to  suffering,  or  fear. 

■  Decius,  slain  in  battle'^with  the  Goths,  in  251,  was 
succeeded  by  Gall  us,  who  renewed  the  persecution  after 
a  brief  relaxation.  But,  in  253,  Gallus  was  slain  bv  his 
soldiers.  His  successor,  Emilianus,  met  the  same"  fate 
in  three  months.  Valerian  was  raised  to  the  throne, 
and  held  it  until  260,  when  he  was  defeated  and  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Persians. 

Persecution,  restrained  in  the  first  vears  of  Valerian 
'.,>  'S  ,'^  '  ': -  T-w!  ''®^-e»^^ed  in  257.      By  Gallienus,  the^on  and  successor 


C^wU    ^Mi^V     l^^V^^^i    Uiv^,-  U^A^Vu'-T      /^<^^v^   T/ 

^^    -L  (£(.    .aT^-Lft^cA    ceMi    fn-^     '     -^,Vc. 

..  /'-..^^ 
of    Valerian,    it    was    hi-diiixlit    to    an    end,   in    ■2<)1,    and  .'i  tu*»t 

Oliristianitv  reroijnized  aa  a  lawful  relij2:ion.  received  for  '   -i \jl^  y\jtXj/' 
the  first  time  a  title  to  i>;overnnu'ntal  toleration.      Thence        '• 
forward,  until  the  time  of  I)i<»i-k'tian,  the  Christians  suf- 
fered little  molestation,  n    ^ 

Christians  were   still    the   minority  of  the   jxipulation  C^^^ 
ujton  the  whole;   hut  in  some  [trovinces  tliey  were  more      '  p'>-^'>  y^- 
numerous  than  the  heathen,  and  their  continual  increase   '-c       ;a^--»  ^^^^ 
was  a  matter  of  frequent  remark.      They  could  no  longer 
he  treated  with  contempt.     They   were  fast   hecoming  a 
great  party  in  the  empire,  thi-eatening  to  overpower  the 
lieathen,  and  extinguish  the  religion  and  ohservances  of  « 

their  fathers,  all  that  they  hail  heen  accustomed  to  honor 
and  revere. 

No  longer  could  the  cliargcs  of  disloyalty,  oi"  ot'  im- 
moral comluct  he  :idvanct'<l  against  christians:  hut  that 
of  atheism,  as  the  heathen  meant  it,  was  fully  estahlished. 
Their  cause  was  distinctly  apprehended  to  l)e  deatli  to 
the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  to  the  vei-y  helief  in  their 
e.xistence. 

Christian  influence  had  heen  ov)eratiiig  so  long  that  it 
had  wrought  an  imi)ortant  change  u[»oii  the  moral  char- 
acter of  society  in  general.  Vices  once  so  common  as  to 
he  little  hiamed,  were  now  hranded  with  disgrace:  and 
ceri'ain  ahominations  once  practised  in  Heathen  temples. 

and  esteemed  essential  parts  of  worship,  had  ceased  ;  and  

were  now  regarded  as  corruptions,  from   which    Polythe-    \\j'^-"'''^\'r- 
ism  had  purified  itself  in  returning  to  its  own  standards.   ^  [^^J^  ^^\} 
That  Christianity  had  some  good  in  it  was  not  now  denied;  ^' ^        ■  f   '' 
but  it  was  urged  tliat  Polytheism  had   more,  and   that  it  '     -  '       -  ^ 
maintained  a  reverence  foi-  the  gods,  and  a  ritual  worsliip   ;■  (-(-  J"'^ 
indispensable  to   the  completeness   of  the   service   men 
owed  them.     It  was  argued  that  the  virtues  of  Christians 
were  disfigured  by  a  low  and  tasteless  manner  of  life,  a 
barbai"ous  form  of  worship  and  rude  fanatical  spirit,  and 
that  by  their    Atheism    they    were   bringing   down    the 
wrath  of  the  gods  upon  the  empire.      The  attitude  of  the 
most  intelligent  heathen   towards  Christianity  and   their 
own  religion  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  Bramo  Soma]  in 
India,  at  the  present  time  :   and  the  Neo-Platonic  philos- 
ophy was  accepted  as  tlieir  guide. 


"Wl^^ c^  tx^> 


88 


Ainnionius  Saccas,  tlie  founder  of  that  pliilosopliy 
(lied  in  243,  at  the  age  of  more  than  eiglity  years.  Hi's 
system  was  one  in  which  some  elements  of  Christianity 
and  of  oriental  specmhition  were  engrafted  npon  the  stock 
of  IMatonism. 

The  heathen  liad  also  tlieir  wonder-workinii;  sage,  in 
the  Pythagorean  philosopher,  Apollonius  of  Tvifna,  whom 
some  of  them  set  np   as  a   rival    to   Christ.    'Apollonius 
was  a  real  person,  who  lived  ahont   the  time  of  Christ, 
_      ^1^    [^    and  obtained  some  distinction   in    letters.      A    work  pro- 
(UU^A.   ^•^ij-  fessing  to  give  an  account  of  his   life  was  written   about 

•    ,"'  '  .  -      the  year  220,   by  Philostratus,  at  the  instance   of  Julia 

V      M.A^'^  iSDomna,  the  wife  of  Septiniius  Severus,  which  is  full  of 
^^'^    I         \I  t    ■/•'  ^''^^^''^^'"8''i"'^*i^tions,  attributing  tohim  miracles  likethose 
^,''^0^  OV^-v-^^"'"''.' of  Christ,  but  also  most  heatlienish  falsehood  and  decep- 
tion. 

It  was  still  around  ihe  question  of  the  wonderful  per- 
^i(%  A  ^A<^''^*'"  "^"  ^'"■'•■^^  "^''^'f  tl't'  tiieologieal  discussions  of  christians 
|i.!-<jiV'-:=^''i'''JG<l    tliemselves.      But    die    |)i-incipal    point    was    no 
/^r.a.-'-  longer  whether  his  body  was  real  or  not;   it  was   now   of 
'    his  Deity.      And  the  bearing  of  the  controversy  was  de- 
^v-   ,    .  termined  by  the  opinions  of  those  who  taught  the  sin<Tle- 

wo  ^^  '     ,  "^-'^^  «^'  person  in  Godhead,  called    by  the  general    nimie 

\/vt>''     '  Monarchianism. 

"1  VrV" ''  ""  ^'  'J^^^'^t  style  of  doctrine  presented  itself  in  several  forms, 

^  '''  pne  of  wliich  was  but  a  variation  upon   Ebionism,  teach- 

ing that  Ciirist  was  only  a  man  conceived  by  mii-aculous 
means,  and   endowed  with  .  the    divine  wisdom    from  his 
birth.     The  power  of  God  was  confei-red    upon    him  in 
greater  degree   than    upon   the   prophets,   or   anv  other 
..human  being.     The  distinction  of  the  party  holdin<r  this 
bO  \^li'^^^'''''^  doctrine  was  due  to  Theodotus,  a  Byzantine,  whowime 
^  to  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century. 

Similar  was  the  teaching  of  Artemon  about  the  same 
time  in  Kome.  Although  rejected  by  christiansgenerally 
and  by  some  eminent  writers,  it  continued  to  be  defended 
by  a  party  through  tlie  first  half  of  the  third  eenturv. 
It  was  preached  by  Beryllus  bishop  of  Bostra  as  late  as 
244.  But  at  a  synod  in  Bostra  that  year,  he  listened  to 
his  own  refutation  by  Origen,  and  recanted. 

2.  A  second  variety  of  Monarchianism  was  that  whicli 
claimed  all  deity  for  Christ.     Tlie  Father  and  the  Son 

/,  ectcu>  (jUi^  \ii  Uw.  c(M.[ (&A i ct^^ u.,^^ 


39 

were  only  diifereiit  modes  of  desigiiiitiiii;'  the  satue  snl>- 
ject.  The  one  God,  who  in  other  resi)ects  i^  the  Father, 
becomes  in  his  appearance  in  human  nsiture,  tlie  Son. 
desns  was  divine  hy  the  indwellinii;  of  the  only  person  ifi 
Godhead. 

This  doctrine  was  first  preached  in  ]<ome  by  Praxeas 
who  came  from  Asia  Minor  about  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Gommodus  (192.)  By  o[)position  to  Montanus  he 
drew  upon  himself  the  censure  of  TertuUian,  wlio  charged 
his  doctrine  with  seeking  to  commend  itself  as  teaching 
the  momii'chv  of  God.  The  expression  has  given  a  gen- 
eral name  for  that  class  of  heresies. 

For  holding  doctrines  similar  to  those  of  Traxeas, 
Noetus  was  excommunicated  in  Smyrna,  in  'ISO.  Some- 
times this  class  of  iiionarchians  wei'c  called  Patripassian, 
according  to  a  saying  of  TertuUian  about  Praxeas,  that 
-'  two  works  of  the  Devil  he  wrought  in  Home,  he  drove 
out  proi)hecy  and  brought  in  heresy,  put  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  flight  and  crucified  the  Father." 

3."  Another  doctrine  of  kindred  nature  was  that  of 
Sabellius,  a  presbyter  in  Ptolemais,  between  250  and  260, 
who  taught  that' the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit  were 
not,  in  the  common  acceptation,  different  persons,  but 
difierent  manifestations  of  the  same  person.  Christ  was 
divine,  not  aa  an  emanation  from  God,  not  by  indwelling 
of  the  Father  ;  but  as  that  particular  manifestation  called  ^ 

the  Son.     We  conceive  of  God  in  his  self-existant,  crea-  /)vuL  fv/K  ^     '^ 
tive  and  all-supporting  power,  as  the  Father  ;  in  theillu-  T^^^X  <>^*'l'"^  \ 
rninating   power  of  the   Logos,  as   the   Son,  and    in    bis  tj^'    njo^^'^l  ^ 
.  enlivening  power  in  the  hea'^^-ts  of  believers,  as  the  Holy    Iw^^tw-  ^_^xX^'* 
Spirit;  and'thus  have  three  divine  energies  in  one  person.  JcuU^^'^W^J^  -^ 

Moreover  Sabellius  believed  that  the  man  Jesus  was    ^.^t^J\^^ 
not  a  common  man,  but  specially  adapted  for  that  union      \    ""^J:^'  .^ 
with  Deity  ^vuiM-^  i- 

c,  l^y^         By  the  churches  in  general   the  'doctrine  of  a  trinity  ^^   T"^^.^  ^ 
K^'^t-  m    anitvof  the   Godhead  was   held   as  firmly  as   at  any    L%vi^*^^^*^      .u 
^''^- other  time;  but  discussion  of  the  subject  was  working    VT*        ^^a^^"'^ 
^•-  towards  a  logical  expression,  not  yet  satisfactorily  attained.  /    L,l>»^  \    {jrf^^ 
^  ^>A .         Controversy  also  arose  out  of  the  method  of  scriptural  ^  I    ^^  ^^  ». 

^/x/f  interpretation  "adopted  by  the  Alexandrian    Sciiool,  and  X '^:^"^ 
J^  ^A^esuecially  by  Origen.     That  metliod  recognized  a  three-    ' 


40 

fold  meaning-  in  !Scri[)tnro.  iianiely  the  literal,  or  liistori- 
cal,  the  moral,  and  the  mystical.  By  urging-  the  mystical 
meaning  of  certain  texts  Origen  was  ciiarged  with  some- 
times denying  the  historical  ;  and  the  method,  if  it  had 
some  advocates,  also  encountered  strong  opposition. 

(^I'igen  in  Ins  theology  also  gave  occasion  to  much 
controversy.  His  views  were  expressed  in  commentaiies 
on  scripture,  and  in  se{)arate  treatises,  as  well  as  in  a  sys- 
tematic work  on  theology,  called  iJe  Principils.  That 
work  was  assailed  from  various  quarters  as  containing 
heres\',  it  was  also  defended  hy  some  of  tlie  ablest  writ- 
ei's  of  that  and  the  succeeding  century.  It  was  botli 
accused  and  defended  (^n  the  charge  of  Platonism. 
Although  obviously  designed  t(^  controvert  Gnostic  specu- 
lations, it  was  coloi-ed  to  some  extent  l)y  them.  The 
principal  points  of  his  system  were, 

1.  That  God  is  e\'erlastingly  ai-tive,  creating  from  and 
to  all   eternity. 

2.  That  all  intellectual  beings  are  originally  e(jual, 
and  clothed  in  bodies,  God  being  the  only  disembodied 
spirit.  Tlie  ditferent'es  among  men  are  due  to  their 
I'emaining  holy  or  sinking  in  sin.  Ibit  all  are  free  to 
return  to  righteousness,  even  the  Devil  is  capable  of 
amelioration  and  pardon. 

4i^tj^    A.*-^-V  hie,  i      3.   The  Logos,  the  Mediator  of  ail  divine  agency,  and 

"  '       ■■"  :     inferior  to  the  supreme  (jod,  did    not  pr<jceed  from  the 

essence  of  the  Father,  as  an  emanation,  but  as  a  constant 

ray  ef  the  divine  glory,  was  generated  by  the  will  of  (Jod 

from  eternity. 

jtu,-'<-w-  4.   The  Holy  Spirit,  and  all  other  beings  were  created 

h     ''■'  by  the  Logos. 

5.   In  Jesus  the  Logos  united  himself  to  a    real   body 
-t  and  a  human  soul,  both  specially  prepared  for  him. 
-  '       '        6.    To  attain    tlie  highest  virtue,  a    man  must  be  free 
,'■'         -  *  from  all  restraints  of  sensuality,  and  of  self-interest,  hav- 

'^  I   '"*r^>'  ■         ing  for  his  aim  to  be  like  God. 

7.   x\lexandrian  theologians  held  that  the  resurrection 
:,.  ._  body  will  not  be  of  earthly  material,  but  spiritual    and 

.(,  ,  r'f'"jncori'uptible. 

"^'I'L.  '^ '  ,    j^S'^    !X  8.   They  accordinulv  rejected  the  expectations  of  sen- 
\,1l^      '      lUW  -  siial  chiliasm. 

V  '  ;^  v»^v t  ^^-^^    H^  i^ 


(/^^•^-X'-'-iW^     ^^ 


41 


AC^.   r3 


C)  rig-en  li eld  that  Ohrii-^t  is  of  "a  nature  midway  between 
tlie  uncreated  and  that  of  all  ereatui'e?."  All  creatures 
derive  their  being  from  the  Fatiier  through  the  Son.  The 
Son  proceeds  from  the  will  of  the  Father. 

Dionysius,  the  pupil  and  successor  of  Origen  in  the 
christian  scliool,  in  his  attein[)t  to  develop  the  idea  of  his 
master  more  precisely,  was  led  to  designate  the  Divine 
Logos  as  created  of  the  Father,  a  step  from  which  he 
afterwards  withdrew.  It  was  subsequently  taken  by  a 
less  scrupulous  controversialist. 

It  was  commonly  believed  that  after  the  resurrection 
there  would  be  an  earthly  kingdom   of  Christ,  in  wliich 
the  s  lints  should,  for  a  thousand  years,  enjoy  much  hap- 
piness.    That  was  to  be  the  great  Sabl)ath  of  the  world's 
history,  and  was  to  occur,  as  some  thouglit,  after  the  lapse  ' (^X\ 
of  six  thousand  years  from  the  creation.      A  small  party,  <^^^ x, cJjc  ['S'^  ^^ 
deriving   its   origin    from   Cerinthus,  expected  that  mil-     .._  ^^j^  ^^C|,J^3^tt 
Jennium  as  a  period  for  enjoyment  of  sensual  pleasures. 
A  literal  acceptance  of  the  millennium  described  in  the 
book  of  Revelation  was  insisted  on  by  Nepos  and    Cora- 
cion,  Egyptian  bishojjs.     But  their  teaching  on  that  jxtiut     ' 
was  opposed  by  Dionysius  of  Alexandria   so  effectually  6"  w'f'''-' 

that  before  a  synod  lield  at  Arsinoein  255,  Coracion  pro-  n.  ,>--  '^v  '  '  ' 
fessed  himself  convinced  of  his  error  and  renounced  it.  ^  -i  t^^^  r«.^c*«-<^ 
Subsequently    through     the    eftbrts    of    Dionysius    and      ihn"'^- 
others  that  style  of  ehiliasm  was  abandoned  in  the  east- 
ern  churches. 

During  this  period  we  fiud  more  frequent  mention  of 
edifices  exclusively  used  for  christian  worship.  In  202 
it  appears  that  there  was  a  church  building  in  Edessa. 
Alexander  Severus  gave  a  piece  of  land  in  Rome  for  a 
christian  place  of  worship,  and  in  the  edict  of  Gallienus  , 

their  places  of  worship  are  directed  to  be  restored  to  ' 
christians.  Such  an  edifice  was  called  a  place  of  prayer 
{TTpoaeuxTrjocou),  or  the  Lord's  house  {or/.o^  xofnaxo^,  or  dcxca 
xuficaxYj,  or  later  zb  xupcaxou),  or  the  bouse  of  the  meeting 
{oho-  ixxXiaia::  or  simply  ixxlr^aia).  From  early  in  the 
third  century,  the  idea  of  constructing  such  houses  more 
or  less  afterthe  model  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  took 
possession  of  the  minds  of  christians  in  some  quarters. 
And  where  that  was  carried    out,  worship   began  to   be 


42 


eeleluate,!  in  a  more  foniial   nianiier,  and  a  o-roater  dis- 

K.itioi.,      Jeniis  also  l.elonjfins-  t"  tlu-  temple  aiidtho 

IIolv  davs,  from  the  ndddle  of  tlie  second  eeiitm-y 
•ere  gradual  y  multiplied.  The  cl.arche,,  in  .,ome  p  aces' 
lega,,  „  hold  meetings  on  Wednesdays  and  Friday  the 
dayn  ot  the  Lord's  I.etrayai  and  cru'cifixion.  A  d'  L 
observat.m,  of  the  Lord's  Passion  and  of  Pentec.  t  «aj 
fully  estahhshed.  ,n  the  west,  a.,  >yen  as  in  the  east  befi  e 
the  close  of  the  second  century.  The  nutnner  of  t  at 
ol  seryatioii  gaye  nse  to  a  controyersy  of  some  lyarm  h 
The  clutrches  of  Ash.  Minor  ol.seryid  the  t^;  '."the 

day  aftei  that,  the  memorial  of  the  resurrection    folioiv 

UVS  c  osely  the  historical  .uxler,  although  tl  e  day     f  t  lo 

'",    'y'of  tl':*'  »',-'"-«',■.'•,"•"«'  years  corres  ,ond   to 

K«-fc.t.A4-.MwM8"'<tl.^   to   the  .lays  ,4  the  week  though  they  mi.dit  not 

1  o.K-lnng  h,s  diflerence,  Poiycarp,  on  u  visit  to  Rome 
111  102,  had  conference  with  the  bishop  of  Rome  hut 
..either  of  them  persuaded  the  other,    otlum"  tit  of 

JMit  almut  196,  Victor  bishop  of  Rome,  assuming- snch 
pre  emiueuee  as  the  imperial  city  exercis'ed  in  eiyii  ma' 
•e  sm  o  S  '"pet""  «"!?' ■■"■■  ,l''^>ee  i"  the  chnrch  as  sue 
Isi Tvin,  ■  ,  ■'  ""^'f.'-'"ok  to  compel  the  chnrches  of 
As,.  Minor  into  compliance  ,yith  the  western  practice 
\>i  the  errors  of  excommunication.  He  was  auickly 
a<  rnonished  of  his  error  by  several  bishops,  i     b,?t  leaS 

I.ei".  h'^'t','"  "'"  Tf'  ''^  ^"b'-ates  if  Ephesus,  au< 
ieuatiis  <t  L  ons.     The  case   ended  in    le.'iyiu<»   each 
church  to  decide  for  itself,  until  the  eouucil  of  Kit-e     35  -  J^^i:^ 
yea  s  later,  acting  for  all  the  chnrebes,  declared  i,  favor 
of  the  western  custom.     The  Easter  ol  servai  ce  a  sume 
,U.  :^  ^      .    S.-eate,;  proportions  in  the  course  of  the  third  cetiy 

'    •       ■        uu   tf '"•■    ''"""•'  ';'■*',"«  "'"^  e"'<=iHxiou,  the  resuiTect  m^' 
...Kl  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ou  the  day  of  Pelite-' 


43 

cost,  the  first  was  commemorated  by  fasting,  the  second 
and  tlie  tliird  hy  festivals,  and  the  interval  between  them 
us  the  Sabbath  of  the  christian  year. 

Long  continueil,  or  at  least,  frequently  recurring  per- 
secution had  constrained  the  christijins,  in  many  quarters, 
to  keep  their  times  and  [)laces  of  worship  secret.  Secrecy 
began  to  l)e  regarded  as  an  essential  element  of  some 
parts  of  their  service,  which  were  spoken  of  as  m3-steries. 
During  tlie  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  it  was 
thouglit  proper  that  all  heathen,  and   unbaptized  specta-    ^  , 

tors   should   be  excluded.      At  Rome,  Naples,  Syracuse, T  JKc-'  *•'    • 
and  some  other  places,  christians  found  refuge  in  caverns 
beneath  the   ground,  where   they  both    conducted   their  '   r—     .}v 

worship  and  buried  their  dead      Many  of  those  catacum-    .*^    "^rih  ,.  J 

bae  (catacombs)  have  been  opened  within  recent  time.       ^^'^^-^L^^^^^X^lr, 

Inordinate  importance  was    now  attached  to  martyr-    ^^^^^^^"^^       ' 


dom  by  tlie  churches  generally;  Origen  went  the  length    Oaz-o^*^' '"'^  ^.^ 

of  attributing  to  it  a  dignity  and  efticacy  similar  to  the    '-'  '-'-'^^^   •  •      i 
death    of  Christ.     In    his  estimation,  persecution  was   a 
real  good,  audits  cessation  contemplated  as  au  evil.     The    ',  4^j,ij.v^>,i'''". 
intercession    of  martyrs  was  thought    to   be  of  avail  on  '^  ~* 
high.  Exorcism  of  those  to  be  baptized  is  now  mentioned,    '',  /       ^  C '^ 
that  is  certain  ceremonies  and  prayers  were  used  for  the  •  ,• .  ,  >  »^ 

pui'pose  of  casting  out  the  evil  spirits  who  were  supposed    ,  Iw-U  I*^ 

to  hold  all  unbaptized  persons  under  their  power.  ^^^^^  cUlL^M^  <•'•■  ' 

1^  V^im^'  The  practice  of  asceticism  was  increasing,  but  was  yet  ;^^^-^yl  €M.i-kt^-~ 
V<>-»>^l|utirely  a  matter  of  individual  choice. 
'"^    .w<.<"^    (tn  the  last  years  of  the  second  centurj'  we  meet  the 
'■^C  -  (C-earliest  christian  writiuo;s  in  Latin,     Thev  belong  to  the 
'''^j^v  church  of  Northern  Africa,  and  are  the  earlier  works  of 
-y"^  {^V   Tertullian.     The   liistory  of  the  North  African  church 
-'ii^  begins  with  that  earliest  of  tlie  Latin  fathers.     Already  L^— 
^     uju^^y-it   consisted  of  a  great  number  of  i)i-osperous   christian 
^^         communities.  jL 

^J  '  Tertidlian  appears  first  as  an  apologist  about  100.      lie  ^^  ^^  ^-r-^fy*'^ 

^'as  a  native  of  Carthage,  son  of  a  proconsular  centurion,  v     i 

became  a  presbyter  in  the  church  of  his  native  city,  aiid^^v^/,'uu^t»-*^'^  <•  -  •• 
wrote   a  great  number  of  works  in  the  christian  cause,  f,,^  [    "^   iPi\^t^c 
chieriy  in  the  reigns  of  Severus  and  Caracalla,  between  : 
193    and    217.       After    he    had    passed    middle    life    he 
embraced  the  opinions  of  Montanus,  with  which  his  later 


^c«C  Xi-Os 


44 


called 


M^i 


chnstianity  ,n    form  of  a  dialogue,  which  he 

Octavii.s  :   an<l  Cains,  a  presbyter  at   Rome    wro  e 

a    treatise_  against  Montanism     while  Xovatim      Z   ' 

pi;esbjte,Mn  the  same  church,  defended  tha'fi^  iol  tnd 

introduced  it  into  the  west  of  Enrov.e 

Aiter  the  death  of  Tertullian,  the  most  eminent  le-idei- 
<^.ecelesiast,cal    opinion  was   Cvprian,  also   a   n  ^  ve   of 
Africa,  and  born  about  the  be^irmin^.  of  t],e  third  centurv 
Until  middle    ife  he  was  a  heathen  "   His  educa  ion    ha^l 
been  eareful,  in  his  profession  of  rhetoric  he  vas^^^n^^^^^^^^^^^ 

about  246,  he  sold  all,  and  distributed  the   price  to  the         ' 

nnd'in  ^'T'}'\  V^^^"^^^^  ^'^^^'^^  in  C^-  h^^ 

De eiu    W    '  'f  ^i^'^'^J'-     ^"   ^^^^  persecution   unde  %U(^ 

dud  1  In-  ^':  ^^\^^'  f--  f  victin,  but  succeeded  in  ^ 

undo    V;eH    ;    J:'^^'^  ^^^.^'\   Y''^   ^"    '^'"^   persecution 
inrc,    Valeiian,  he   was  singled  out  with   such   ouroose   ' 
hat  escape,  it  practicable,  was  not  within  what  he    eemed    , 

the  piofession  ot  his  faith  in  the  year  258.  Much  of 
Cyprian  s  attention  was  constrained  to  the  suljec  f 
church  government  and  discipline,  and  to  the  /'do  the 
most  important  of  his  writings  pertain 

tinned  bv'fsTl'"'^'''   persecution    under    Decius,  and  c-on- 
nued  bj^  Gallus,  many  christians  fell  away,  a.  d   denied 
heir  faith  m   order  to  save  their  lives.     Tl  ey    ac.'^ce 
to  heathen  gods,  or  offered  incense,  or  procure  d^cirtif^^ 
V  '""^T  ^''^^  /'^'  "magistrates  that  the'  we.^  ru     christi  u  s 

01    (ffjcMOa        When    the  persecution  had  passed  over 

'^^'^''  ^  i^^  th    'or  T'f  '-cle  applicatio,^:  be  t^Ji;; 

S  '   '  '      -"-r^l     ]   ^  ^''^  church.      It  became  a  matter  of  no  litMe 

^'  '^'^r^'y  ''I  '^''^^  the  terms  upon  winch  tl  ev  we   " to  be 

■        •    /i  ii^v/"'-\'^"'f  ^^^  ^''  '-ejected.  ""'   ''^''  ^''  ^^^ 

•    'XL.     ^''  .  "-'^'"'"'''^  ""^  northern  Afriea,  a  difference   in  the 

^  preslvttf '.,      I  .^^P^'^^tion   of  a  minority.      Five 

-      piesDjtei^     at    whose    nead    was    Novatus      refused    to 

approve  of  the  election,  and  as  Cyprian  soon   afterul-ds 


TAf. 


4;) 

was  driven  from  his  place  by  persecntion,  they  prn(!ceded 

to  conduct  their  affairs  without  him.     Tliey  ordained   aa 

a  deacon  Felicissimns,  who  subsequently  became  chief  of 

the    party.      The    question    of  the    lapsed    widened    the 

schism.      Cyprian    was  in    favor    of  imposing  a  severe 

probation  upon  those  who  wished  to  return  to  their  place 

in  the  church  ;   Felicissimus  and  his  party  would  re-adniit 

them  upon  the  simjtle  presentation  of  their  petition.     A     .    ^    .    u*^^.*^nX 

synod  of  the  African  church,  which  met  in  251,  resolved  rj^  il^^^ 

to  re-admit  the  lapsed    upon    condition    of  their  repent-  *WC  ^^**T         • 

ance,  and  submission   to  such  probati(Miary  exercises  as 

the  church  mio'ht  think  proper  in   eacli  particular  case. 

In  the  church  of  Rome,  about  the  same  time,  a  similar 
schism  took  place.  On  the  election  of  Cornelius  as 
bishop,  in  251,  a  minority  of  the  Presbytery  dissented 
on  account  of  his  leniency  towards  the  lapsed,  and  chose 
Novatianus  as  their  bishop.  The  course  adopted  by 
them  touching  the  lapsed  was  that  of  refusing  to  admit 
them  on  an_y- terms,  liolding  as  a  general  principle  that 
great  sins  committed  after  baptism  should  exclude  from 
tlie  privileges  of  the  church.  A  considerable  number  of 
both  clergv  and  laity  joined  tliem,  and  formed  that  party, 
which  either  took  or  accepted  the  name  of  Cathari,  or 
Puritans. 

A  synod  at  Rome,  in  251  took  action  against  that 
party,  iind  in  favor  of  such  a  moderate  course  towards 
the  lapsed  as  that  adopted  by  the  synod  of  Carthage  in 
the  same  year. 

Tn  the"^case  of  both  the  African   and  Roman  schisms  ^^,^^^<W^ 
the  dissenters  defended  their  organization   on   Presbyte-  .''  ^-^  O^-^^i* 

rian  ground  in  opposition  to  the  high  prelatical  assump-  ^^      ^      f^ 

tions'of  the  bishops  of  Rome  and  Carthage.  But  it  was  ^  /o*c-"7'' 
then  too  late  to  organize  a  successful  resistance  to  prelacy  /fer^  '-'-^ 
on  that  ground,  directly  or  indirectly.  The  question  of 
ministerial  equality  h:id  already  to  be  debated  on  a  differ- 
ent level.  Two  Spanish  bisliops,  Basilides  of  Leon  and 
Martial  of  Merida,  were  deposed  by  a  Spanish  Synod,  as 
being  libeUaiici.  They  applied  to  Stephen,  bishop  of 
Rom'e  for  his  influence  in  their  favor.  Stei)hen  assumed 
to  restore  them,  and  received  them  into  communion  with 
his  church.     The  Spanish  church  consulted  that  of  Africa, 


46 


1 1ca^te^CiZ^^ 


wliicli  at  a  Synod  ii>  Carthage  censured  the  bishop  of 
Rome  for  participation  in  the  disorderly  conduct  of  the 
deposed  bishops. 

Again,  the  v^aHdity  of  baptism  by   lieretics   liad   been 

^lenied  by    the   African    churclies,   at   a  council   held   at 

ji^'.Carthage,  about  the  bes-innino;   of  the   centurv,    and    by 


/(iti*^«  i\  '^»^^?1;hose  of  Asia  Minor,  in  a  council  at  Iconium  in  2-35.  c.  r      \J 

'^l,iJan^^l  11"^       i,j  Kome,  and  some  other  phices  in  the  west,  tlie  op-  rpJ^- 
WfiJSij.  posite  view  was  taken,   and    acted    on.      Persons  havinjT  ^f  ^^^'TTT 


received  heretical  baptism  were  admitted  into  the  (;om 
munion  of  the  church  by  hiving  on  of  the  hands  of 
tlie  bishop.  When  Steplien  became  bishop  in  liome,  he 
undertook  to  constrain  all  churches  to  conform  to  the 
custom  of  his  own,  and  threatened  to  excommunicate  the 
churches  in  Asia  Minor,  if  they  adliered  to  their  discipline 
in  that  respect.  Firmilian  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia 
responded  by  retorting  the  charge  of  schism  upon 
Stephen,  and  sharply  reproving  him  for  his  assumption. 
Stephen  was  also  censured  for  that  act  by  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria.  In  Africa  the  same  view  of  his  conduct  was 
taken  by  the  synod  which  met  in  Carthage  in  254  and 
again  by  that  of  255.  That  decision  \\'as  communicated 
to  tlie  bishop  of  Rome  in  a  letter  drawn  u[)  by  Cy[)rian, 
who  also  defended  the  equality  of  all  bishops.  Ste[)hen's 
answer  to  the  African  bishops  was  overbearing;  and  his 
threat  was  repeated  that  the  Roman  church  woukl  sepa- 
rate from  tlieir  communion.  In  256  another  sjMiod  at 
Carthage  afHrmed  the  action  of  its  predecessors ;  and 
Cyprian  took  occasion  more  fully  to  state  the  views  which 
he  and  tlie  other  members  of  the  synod  held  touci)ing  tlje 
equality  of  bishops. 

From   those  statements  it  appears  that  a  new  epoch 

has  been  readied  in  the  history  of  the  ministry.     The 

distinction   between   presbyter  and    bishop   ia   not   only 

clearly    made,    but    tlie    bishops    of   some    great    cities, 

especially  of  Rome,  are  beginning  to  assume  superiority 

/  over  other  bishops.     The    opjiosition  is  mainly  ujton  an 

I      "     '^{AflOtSMi  episcopal  basis.     Rome  is  now  sp(d<en  of  as  the  chair  of 

|>i/Y<p^^K    ^^  jP^^j    St.  Peter,  not  in   the  sense  that   Peter  was  ever  bishop 

*^     \^(i   ic(  ^i^i^V't^**^''®  '   ^'^^  that  during  a  visit  he  had  directed  the  aflairs 

'^.*^   ^-i  ^  _  tLof  the    church    as    an    apostle.     The    pretension    of  the 


A'/   ftMl 


^i 


/<• 


'uc^d-^ 


^U 


/' 


V  •) 


47 

Roman  bisliop  is  not  adiiiittt'd  In- tlio  bisliops  of  the  east,  ■■   /    ,  ,• 

of  Alexandria,  of  North    Africa    or    of  S])ain.     r)iit    in  ^^^^-^ 

opposing'  it,,  on   tlie  equality  of  hishops,  episcopacy  as  u  '^'"]  "^    jli' 

separate  rank  in  the  ministry  is  more   fully  defined  than  /.   b'^i^    'ij^^ 

ever  before.  By  Cyprian  the  essentials  of  the  church  are  [Xxi^^C^^^  kkA>C. 
held  to  consist  in  a  ]iarticular  or2;anization,  and  a  con- 
nection with  bishops  in  the  line  of  apostolic  ni)pointnicnt. 
On  this  liead  he  coincided  with  many  others  in  his  day; 
and  in  defending-  it  constructed  the  foundation  for  the 
very  evil  he  was  controverting.  f   ^ 

Still,  a  great   number  of  the  bishops,  wdiose  equality  ^'^  Q^i^*^* 

was   defended  by  Cyprian,  were   only   ])astors  of  single  p^j  y\^t-^u  .'-•'(■ 
congregations.    But  in  the  larger  churches  of  great  cities, '^  }^<jfi5^oJlj  ^  Or 

cliurch  extension  developed  a  new  feature  of  episcopacy,  r..>^^^  ',','  ^c^-^xo'tu. 

The  principle  that  all   the    christians  of  one  city  should  — 

form  but  one  church,  afier  the  establishment  of  the  rule  \..  j^, 

of  but  one   bishop  in   one  church,  inevitably  produced  «    '    ^"*Tv^  ' 

prelacy.     For  when  the  church  increased  in  numbers  and  tuu.  Y    '^^^^^J 

had  to  divide  ii)t<^  several  congregations  the  otie  bishop  ]>u.#6>^C*«T  2X^t 

was  constrained  to  employ  presbytei- assistants  to  conduct  ^  i»/x,v^^-i«  i^' 

worship  at  the  dilierent   places  of  meeting.     And  these  k  <  ^^ 

presbyters  necessarily  became  the  pastors  of  the  respect-  y-*^'  -'    '"^    J_^  . 
ive  charges   over  which    they  were   set.     The   bishop  of  Jf.fi'f.;     •^  uiUcu*^ 
such   a  city  church   became  the  chief  over  a  number  of  r»/    ,.  ^  i^ 

pastors,  wdio  in   rank  were  only  presbyters;  while  the  '. 

bishops  in  small   towns  and  country  places,  where  there  "~/^^ 

had  been  no  such  increase  of  numbers  I'emained  bishops  C*--^\  ^ 

over  only  their  single  respective  congregations.  "  It  w^as  i^,   » / 
natural  that  the  bishop  who  {)resided  over  the   pastors  of  , 

several    congregations    should  assume   superiority  over  -'' 

him  who  had  pastoral  charge  of  only  one.     Such  is  the  /tOt  r^jn^"'^     '  ^ 

junctuie  at  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  when  even  /r^  •    L  lL^:~tux  (■'.•■ 

-tl]e  bishop  of  Rome,  who  claims  a  place  of  superiority  '      ^  ^ fL     L    ^'> 

among   bishops,  has  yet  no   episcopal  jurisdiction   over  '"^   ^^t^"^        Vj. 
bishops,  nor  superior  rank  among  them.     It  was  a  state  of  GliyvrV^t  '  ^'-'v* .  -  ' 

things  which  could  not  continue.     No   argument,  how-  |,  Crwt'> -j  »>jw^- '^' 

ever  strong,  for  the  equality  of  bishops,  iji  circumstances  v  ^l^ (^  .  i-  cw^^i 

so  diff'erenl^,  could  withstand  the  tendency  to  further  dis-  '^  ^^U.  ^  i^''*^ 

crimination  of  ranks.  QoiM^Si  X.  h^r'^  *''     ' 

r.i^,  ,.f;,^,/'     It  is  also  within  this  period    that    regular   provincial  ^y^tirr. . 
councils  come  distinctly  to  notice.     In  the  second  century 


48 

ineiitioii  is  often  made  of  councils  in  different  provinces,      ^_ 

us  tliose  in  relation  to  Montanisni,  lield  at  Ilierapolis  in    /*^  ()  •^J^-. 

Phrygia,  and  at  iVnchialus  in  Thrace  ;   in  relation  to  the 

Colarbasians,  held   at  Pergamns   in    152;  on    the   Easter 

observaiice,  lield  at  Epliesus  196,  and   one  at  Rome  in 

197,  also  at  Jerusalem,  at  Cuesareay' in  Pontus,  at  Lyons, 

in  Osrhoene,  and  in  Corinth.     Tertullian  speaks  of  conn-   a      -/. 

cils  as  habitually  held  in  Greece,  and  Firmilian   of  Aaia  '^'^' 

Minor  mentions  them  as  being  of  regular  recurrence  ;  JHu-pi*//  '-^ 

but  of  very  few  in  the  second  century  have  the  dates  been  ^   ^^'^  2^ 

recorded.     In   the  third   centui-y   their  history  is  wxore  l(*^' >  C>u^i /C 

_  ,       ^  definite.     There  were  councils  in  Qiirthage  in  21 8  or  222,^  J7f  Lt*) 

'•r  ^'k  • ''  ,'      on  baptism  of  heretics;   251,  in  relation  to  Felicissimus  :  ■,  ,    '^ 
252,  on   early   bu[)tism  ;    253,   on    ba[)tism    by  iieretics  ;      '  '     ' 
254,  in  relation  to  the  S[)anish   bishojis,  255,  and  two  in 
256,  relating  to  the  controversy  with  Rome. 
V    ^   '  In  the  same  period  there  were  councils  at   Rome   in  .^.^     ■      , 

'^'^"^^..^  T  231,  251 ,  256  and  260.     In  Alexandria  two  are  mentioned 
cr^-r-    <   ^         -  in  231  and  soon  after,  toucliini!:  the  disputes  of  Demetrius 

T--  .  witlj  Origen.      Others  ai-e  mentioned  elsewh'ere,  as  one  in 

Bostra  in  Arabia,  in  244,  one  at  Znmbesa  in  Africa  in  or 
about  240,  at  Iconium  in  230  or  258,  at  Ephesus  in  245, 
in  Acliaia,  in  or  about  25p,  in  Narbonne  Gaul  in  255,  or 
260,  and  somewhere  in  Arabia  in   247. 

In  the  first  instance  Synods  held  in  clieck  the  increas- 
ing pretensions  of  the  bishops  of  great  citi^is  ;  but  latterly, 
b}'  defending  ministerial  equality  on  the  basis  of  episco- 
pacy, not  of  presbytery,  they  actually  made  the  most 
effective  support  of  tliat  ecclesiastical  aristocracy  which 
was  now  assuming  its  position  in  the  cliurches.  For 
consistently  with  the  municipal  element  of  the  ancient 
-^  A;^.'^"7^ "church,  and  wliich  was  fundamental  in  the  ancient  idea 

W/^aic    fi^^Mt^Q^  government,  the  presidency  of  a  council  resided  in  the 

\i/,kt  ."^'^^  ■'\)\q\\o\)  of  the  chief  city  of  the  province  in  which  it    was 

i^.A^/^^'^held. 

^«tf /<'*".  From    heathen   mysteries  some  christians  borrowed 


6.  VI 


O^yti^--^ 


ru^  iff-  "  ^        the  idea  of  esoteric  and  exoteric  doctrines.     The  written 
Word  contained    the    exoteric,    or    public    instruction, 
'_^/     i""  "■  although  it  also  beneath  its  obvious   sense  concealed   a 

y      '^l^/u.  fte^r higher  mystical  meaning,  which  only  those  enlightened  by 
M, .      c|»^     -J        esoteric  instruction  could  desccrn.     Certain  things  were 


vu^  \y^^  "- 


49 


,(M  ■ 


also  lauo'lit  in  secret  to  the  more  advanced  in  christian 
attainment,  vvhicli  were  said  to  have  been  communicated 
by  Christ  to  his  disciples,  but  never  committed  to  writino-. 
When  we  enqnire  after  these  arcana,  there  is  notliinc  to 
be  found  but  fanciful  speculation,  allegorical  trcatnient 
of  Scripture,  or  pretended  facts  of  little'aecount. 

The  sacrament  of  ]>aptism   was  now   burdened   witii  \\iw  «-jl^v.  r 
ceremonies  giving  it  much  of  the  character  of  initiation  t.,^  Ijhk  VO  .. 
to  mysteries.     And  in  some  churches  none  were  l>ermit--T;Cvv, ,-  &^i  G-'Jv-'( 
ted  to  witness  its  administration  who  had  not  been  tliem-*7^ni[,-^l  Yijlli^  V 
selves  baptized.     In  some  cliurches,  if  not  generally,  the  C^l.Wo    \  Tu  r  (M 
^rktiJu. candidate  for  baptism  was  first  exorcised,  to  drive  away  ''  '       lu^,  (tc6t(c;M<»r. 
'^(,-.  •   evil  spirits   from   him.     Then,   after  application    of  the  [^.  ..^"j^t^^'Cc  >ux.kV- 
water,  the  kiss  of  peace  was  given  him,  and  a  mixture  of  (^4^  tslT^t^t  M 
milk  and  honey  was  administered.     He  wasthen  anointed  -^  i^^^i-wL^C  Owr- 
and  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.  )■  -'   •<  ^ 

After  which  the  minister  laid  his  hands  upon  him,  and     ^^"^ '  " 
bestowed  the  benediction.  . 

The  baptism  of  children  was  the  common  order  of  the  '^H-'-'-' 'p'l'^ll'^' «, 
church,  although  not  universal.     For  some,  as  the  Mon-  OV^^v.;   llvt^fv-"'  • 
tanists  and  Cathari,  bolding  that  heinous  sin  after  ])np- ][/t^^euk^  ifWvrt-'^  j 
tism  could  not  be  pardoned,  opposed  infant  baptism,  and  .-^'^'  i,  I  .U  Orvw/«^' 
even  in  the  case  of  a(bdts,  encouraged  the  deferring  of  it  ;-,    ^L^  %i-->.b^<^ 
until  lare  in  life,  or  the  threatened  approach  of  death.        ;,■(('  h^."C-^*J^^: 

Sponsors  were  also  introduced  in  some  churches  in  gXc^iJ)^ '^■'''■^^^*^^ 
the  time  of  Tertullian,    who   opposed    the  practice,    as  tr-^^^  <S^|-'' • 
another  objectionable  consequence  of  infant  baptism. 

In  the  Lord's  supper,  we  read  from  Justin  Martyr, 
tliat  wine  mingled  with  water  was  used,  it  was  tlie  com- 
mon way  of  using  wine  at  table  ;  but  in  the  third  century, 
superstition  recognized  a  mystery  in  tliat  mixture.  The 
water  represented  the  people,  tiie  wine,  the  blood  of 
christ,  and  their  mingling,  the  union  of  Christ  with  the 
multitude  of  the  faithful. 

The    notion    of  sacrificial   eilicacy    in    the    elements  ^,     ^ ^lUv. '-''^'^ *^', 
liad  begun  to  prevail,  as  early  as  the  time  of  Tertullian, ' -iV^>i-tilc«^- >  > 

And    in    some  places  the  sacrement  was  observed  daily,  ,   i    ,^j^//V 

under  the  belief  that  the  elements  were  the  spiritual  food  H^^  ^7-  /^  ,  ,^^ 
of  the  soul,  to  which  the  second  petition  of  the  Lord's /^"^^ '/       ".       J 
Prayer  referred,  and  which  imparted  to  the  material  frame       -t^ iXt:,^\uU.^XAi^'^ 
of  the  believer  tlie  germ  of  immortality.  5*^  ' 


d<,xt^     ^('^x     ^'  ' 


50 

In  earlier  times  the  preparation  of  catecliuniens  was 
merely  theii-  instruction  and  that  fraternal  treatment 
which  elicited  evidences  of  their  piety  ;  but  by  and  by, 
it  began  to  assume  the  (-olor  of  austerities,  after  the 
nuinner  of  initiation  to  heathen  mysteries.  Then  the 
re-admission  of  tliose  excommunicated  for  great  sins  was 
thought  to  require  a  discipline  still  more  severe.  The  nu- 
merous cases  of  the  lapsed,  about  the  middle  of  3rd  cen- 
tury seemed  to  render  that  course  necessary  to  the  pur- 
ity of  the  church.  Thus  was  the  practice  of  penance  fully 
inaugurated  before  the  death  of  Cyprian  ;  and  even  those 
who  dissented  from  it  contributed  to  define  it.  The 
Cathari  would  readmit  none  who  had  been  guilty  of  great 
sin  after  baptistn  ;  they  liad  theref  )re  to  distinguish  l)e- 
tween  sins  deadly  and  venial. 

In  the  large  churches  it  was  thougiit  expedient  to 
appoint  a  presbyter  to  examine  penitents  and  hear  from 
them  what  they  were  willing  to  confess  before  the  congrega- 
tion, and  to  announce  to  each  tlie  penance  demanded  of 
him  by  the  existing  regulations.  Such  an  officer  was 
called  the  I'rcshijtcr  peneteniiarius. 

It  is  plain  that  there  was  during  the  fii'st  half  of  the 
tliird  century  a  great  iniiux  of  error  and  of  mistaken 
Ijractice;  and  yet  never  did  the  history  of  martyrdom 
present  a  nobler  roll  of  witnesses  t"  tlie  truth.  And  in 
the  glimpse  whi(;h  we  obtain  into  the  private  character 
of  christians,  both  men  and  women,  wo  behold  the  most 
beautiful  fi-uits  of  the  life  in  Christ.  The  leading  minds 
in  the  christian  literature  of  the  time  were  the  great 
teachers  in  the  school  at  Alexandria,  Pantaenus,  Clement, 
Origen,  Ileraclas,  and  Diony^^ius,  secondly,  tlie  African 
fathers,  Tertullian  and  Cyprian;  thirdly,  those  of  the 
Syrian  School,  of  wliom  Julius  Africanus  was  the  most 
illustrious,  nor  ought  Beryllus  of  Bostra  to  be  overlooked 
in  the  history  of  doctrinal  development,  fourthly  those  of 
Asia  Minor,  represented  by  Firmilian  and  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  and  some  of  the  earliest  Monarchians, 
fifthly,  those  of  Rome  among  whom  Minutius  Felix,  Ci)r- 
nelius,  and  Stephen  were  the  most  eminent  ;  Hippolytus 
was  an  illustrious  Christian  author  in  connection  with 
that  Cluirch,  l)ut  he  wrote  in  the   Greek  language;  and 


51 

sixthly,  some  bisliops  of  Spain  and  of  Gaul  appear  as 
leaders  of  opinion,  of  whose  \vritino;s  little  or  nothinij 
remains.  By  far  the  most  valuable  "writings  of  tlie  time 
are  tliose  left  by  the  great  chi'istian  scholars  of  Alexan- 
dria and  Cai'thage. 

lA'.-  261  TO  325  A. D 

From  the  legalizing  of  ehristianity  in  261  a  new  stasre 
of  christian  history  began,  and  continued  until  325,  wjien 
("onstaiitine,  carried  to  the  throne  of  the  empire  by 
Christian  arms,  commenced  the  reconstruction  of  the 
whole  not  as  a  dominion  of  annexed  [trovinces,  l)ut  afs 
one  organic  whole,  into  wliich  Christianity  was  interwoven 
as  the  state  religion,  and  called  the  iirst  general  council 
of  the  churcli.  "  -y  -.   ,fUkn-^^o 

1.  It  was  tlie  last  period  of  persecution   inflicted   by  V.  'It.',., 
authority  of  the  Roman  government. 

2.  Secondly,  its  issue  was  the  triumph  of  Christianity 
as  the  stronger  power  in  the  empire. 

3.  It  was  the  period  of  diocesan  aristocracy,  during 
which  bishops,  claiming  equality  among  themsehes,  held 
in  common  superiority  over  the  other  clergy,  while  some 
were  gradually  establishing  their  superiority  among 
bishops. 

4.  Fourthly,  it  was  the  period  of  controversy  with  tlie 
ablest  leaders  of  the  Xeo-Platonic  philosophy. 

The  time  when  the  imperial  office  was  entirely  in  the 
gift  of  the  army,  and  which  began   "vith    the   death   of 
Comrnodus,  lasted  until  the    accession  of  Diocletian  in 
284.     Its  latter  years  exhibited  the  empire  almost  in    a 
state  of  anarchy.     Division  was  as  active  in  the  state,  as 
organization  in  the  church.      Gallienus  reigned  frorn  260 
until  268;   but  so  many  were  his  rivals  that  they  have  in   a.          r^     ^^f  ^tX-' 
a  o-eneral  way  received  the  name  of  the  thirty  in    refer-  „       '"    ir-,.  -yMx*.*-*^ 
ence  to  the  Tliirty  tyrants   in    Athena.     Gallienus   was  k   !l,i:^j,J.  w_/n^-'- 
himself  murdered  by  one  of  them,  who  was  defeated  in  \^ia.  (-Ct^'^i  <^^^ 
his  expectation  of  the  throne  by  the  fact  that  Gallienus  ){JLl  y->ua;;'^  r '^  ' 
had  already  designated  Claudius  as  his  successor,  and  by  im-u-^^  ^*^\Qfi7 
the  superiority  of  Claudius  on  the  battle  field.     Claudius  ptcc,.-  (h'-l'^^^^^ 
,*^^„,diedin   270.      His  succesor   retained   the   honor  only  17  ^U-wriMr^.T^.^'^'T;' 
davs.     Aurelian  conquered   the  rebel  Kingdom  of  Pal-  {o^^^c^^^i'l^^^'^^!^ 


Mi^rt^    t^     'JJt'^'-i^^^     t^<A    u<.v\,^i^A^  ^     ^i^^i 


52 

iiiyra,  and  all  liis  military  rivals,  re-established  the  sab- 
ordination  of  the  empire,  and  repelled  its  foreign  foes; 
but  at  the  end  of  five  years  of  extraordinary  activity  he 
also  fell  by  assassination,  275.  The  senate  elected  M. 
C.  Tacitus,  a  good  man  and  able  prince,  but  of  advanced 
age,  who  sank  beneath  the  toils  of  office  in  about  seven 
months.  Florian,  au'l  Probus  were  set  up,  tlie  former 
b\^  the  Senate,  the  latter  by  the  army  in  Syria.  Florian 
was  early  put  to  death  by  his  soldiers  ;  Probus,  reaping- 
the  fruits  of  Anrelian's  victories,  carried  his  arms  suc- 
cessfully against  invasion  from  the  north.  But  he  also 
fell  by  the  band  of  violence.  Cams  was  inmiediately  in 
282  set  up  l)y  tlie  soldiers.  His  reign,  though  eminently 
successful,  ended  in  about  a  year.  His  successor  ISTume- 
rianus  was  murdered  in  a  few  months.  And  in  284, 
Diocletian  was  proclaimed  by  the  army. 

The  accession  of  Diocletian  constitutes  an  era  in  tlie 
bistorv  of  botli  church  and 'state.  In  the  formei*  it  lono- 
continued  to  be  used  as  such,  under  the  name  of  Diocle- 
tian, or  of  the  martyrs.  That  illusti'ious  ruler  devised  a 
l)lan  to  regulate  and  control  the  imperial  succession,  and 
to  secure  efficient  government  in  every  part  of  the  empire. 

1.  First  in  286  he  clu)se  Ma.vimian  one  of  his  genera's 
as  a  colleague,  and  assigned  to  him  tlie  government  of 
the  west,  the  seat  of  which  was  at  Rome.  They  were  to 
be  equal  in  power,  both  to  have  the  title  x\ugustus,  and 
to  co-o[)erate  in  all  affiurs  of  the  wliole  empire. 

2.  Soon  afterwards,  they  both  chose  assistants,  who 
were  to  be  emperors  of  a  second  rank  under  the  name 
of  Caesar.  Diocletian  chose  Maximin  Galerius,  to  whom 
was  assigned  Thrace  and  Illyricum  ;  all  the  rest  of  the 
East  being  under  his  owm  immediate  rule.  Maximian 
chose  Constantius  Chlorus,  and  gave  him  authority  over 
Spain,  Gaul  and  Britain,  retaining  tlie  other  parts  of  the 
West  for  himself. 

3.  The  Caesars  were  to  be  as  it  were  lieutenants  of  the 
i.\ugU8ti,  and  when  an  Augustus  died  or  resigned,  his 
Ca?8ar  was  to  take  his  place,  and  select  another  Caesar. 
Thus  it  was  hoped  the  empire  would  always  have  rulers 
present  in  all  its  four  great  quarters,  always  have  men, 
in  its  two  highest  places,  in  the  ripeness  of  experience, 


58 

wise  heads  to  g'uide  or  ut  least  to  counsel  with  the  younger 
emperors  while  ac([uiring  their  experience,  and  there 
would  be  a  regular  lawful  and  reliable  order  of  succes- 
sion. 

4,  It  seems  to  have  l)een  a  part  of  the  plan  that, 
unless  death  should  work  the  change  sooner,  the  August! 
after  the  la[)se  of  a  certain  time,  or  the  attainment  of  a 
cei'tain  age,  should  abdicate  and  leave  the  supreme  au- 
thority to  their  Ctesars. 

It  was  a  beautiful  scheme,  but  presumed  upon  dis- 
interested virtue  in  ambitious  men, — a  fatal  presumption; 
and  yet  it  secured  twenty  years  of  orderly  government, 
and  perhaps  suggested  to  him  who  overthrew  it  the  con- 
ception of  one  which  proved  more  durable. 

It  was  no  whim,  nor  mere  weakness  wliich  at  the  end  of 
twenty-one  years,  led  Diocletian,  in  305,  to  abdicate  and  go 
into  retirement.  His  colleague  iiui:ustus,  Maximian,  also 
complied  with  the  rule.  Their  Ciesars,  accordingly 
became  Augusti,  and  new  C;\'sars  were  appointed. 

Galerius  was  now  Augustus  of  the  East,  and  Con- 
stantius  of  the  West,  while  the  C?esar  of  the  East  was 
Maximin  Daza,  and  in  the  West,  Severus. 

Constantius  dietl  at  York  in  306.  Thereupon  the 
soldiers  arrogated  to  themselves  the  power  so  long  kept 
out  of  their  hands.  The  army  of  Britain  insisted  upon 
making  Constantine,  tlie  son  of  Constantius,  Augustus. 
And  the  young  prince  accepted  their  nomination  with- 
out regard  to  Diocletian's  sclieme.  Other  pretenders 
arose  elsewhere.  Galerius  maintained  the  scheme  in  the 
East,  and  Maximian  returned  to  defend  it  in  the  West. 
But  tlie  case  was  decided  by  the  sword.  Severus  was 
defeated  and  slain,  and  Constantine  marched  in  victory 
from  Britain  to  Rome.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  city 
he  fought  the  decisive  battle  of  Saxa  Rubra  in  312.  It 
was  in"  that  campaign  that  he  saw,  as  he  thought,  the 
luminous  cross  in  the  heavens. 

Galerius  died  in  311,  and  Maximin  Daza  succeeded  to 
the  place  of  Augustus  of  the  east,  with  Licinius  as  Cassar ; 
Constantine  being  sole  emperor  of  the  M^est. 

From  the  time  of  Gallienus,  Christians  had  been  free 
from  persecution  by  governmental  order,  until  the  nine- 


Cur,.     tu^Cc.^    >^   ^f^'<U^^^>'^^^^'^"^^   -"^(^^     /D^^O/^/m.   ^ 


.L  \^,r^  Ir  ^\teeut]i  year  of  the  reio-ii  of  Diocletian,  when  pereuadod,  it 
'  /I  »//  ;;j>^''„>8  said  by  the  urgency  ot  his  Cicsar,  the  senior  emperor 
'''''^•^  "  '  -^  gave  liis  sanction  to  a  new  attempt  to  suppress  their 
worship.  He  soon  after  abdicated,  hut  the  persecution 
was  continued  l)y  his  successor,  who  as  (^fesar  had  insti- 
gated it.  Just  before  his  death  in  311,  Galerius  revoked 
the  edict  of  persecution.  After  his  death  it  was  again 
put  in  force;  but  could  now  take  effect  only  in  the  east. 
In  the  west,  from  its  beginning  under  Maxiniian,  it  was 
light,  and  lasted  not  quite  two  years. 

]^o  sooner  had  Constantine  secured  himself  in  com- 
mand of  the  west   than  he  issued,  in    conjunction   with 
Licinius,  the  Cnesar  oFthe  east,  whose  jurisdiction  covered 
/  /J  /  the  European  east,  an  edict  pi'oclaiming  freedom  to  all 

i^^'Wr  <ry}^^^'*"^ 'christians  within  their  dominions.     It  was  published  at 
\s  '  ^  y/^V.  Milan  in  313. 

During  the  absence  of  Constantine  in  war  with  the 
Franks,  Ma.Kiniin,  Augustus  of  the  east,  from  hatred  to 
Christianity  made  war  upon  Licinius.  The  issue  of  that 
conflict  was  his  own  defeat,  followed  by  his  death  in  the 
same  year,  313. 

Licinius   now   as   master  of  all    the    eastern    empire 

assumed  the  attitude  of  competitor  with  Constantine  for 

.        s        the  dominion  of  the  whole.     He  was  worsted  in  the  war 

{j^^itiu      '    '''^••^   waged  in  that  cause,  in  314,  and  constrained  to  cede  the 

J,  European  east  to  Constantine. 

'''^"■'  Eight  years  later  Licinius,  having  deserted  the  cause 

of  tlie  Christians,  concluded  to  try  the  fortune  of  w^ar  at 
the  head  of  the  heathen  ijiterest.  The  war  which  ensued 
was  clearl}?  a  trial  of  militar}'  strength  between  the 
Heathen  and  Christian  parties  in  the  empire.  The  two 
armies  met  near  Adrianople,  324.  Constantine  displayed 
the  bannei-  of  the  cross,  Licinius  raised  the  old  idolatrous 
standards  of  Rome.  The  issue  of  that  hard  fought  battle, 
one  of  the  most  momentous  in  the  worhl's  history,  was 
the  overthrow  of  Licinius,  and  of  tlie  cause  which  he  had 
adopted.  Another,  but  a  feeble  attempt  completed  his 
ruin.  To  Heathenism  the  defeat  was  final.  Tlie  empire 
came  under  the  rule  of  the  Christian  leader.  An  edict 
of  general  toleration  was  issued.  The  next  step  was  to 
recognize  the  churches  as  in  their  organization  iK^lding 


t' 


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JL(^ 

1  -r       ^^^' 

.    ..    ,  ■     ^Tf/^r/..  ,  V.  /  A-  //u    Vf^  ^ 


^t-»^-L.rft^     /^<^*^    ,  -^*^    /^C^^U^'Cfi-     ''^^iCA^-WM^ . 


55 


ii,ec;ifsiii8uc;ii  inuiiuon,  rccKonino;  Trorn  tiie  nrst  niulor 
Nero    counts   ten   lieatlien   persecutions,   nnraciy   nncicr    Mift/c  r  w. 
Nero,  ^DoniitiiUKJ^Trajnn^^Marcus^  Anrelins,   Septimius '^^r^      ^t^s 
Severns:  Alaximfn,  Deciu-V^^i^leriaM/Aurelian,  and  Dio-   ^     ,J^  5-  ^ 


relations  to  the  new  constitution  of  the  civil  govern nioiit. 
Ecclesiastical  tradition,  reekonino;  from  the  first  under 
Nero,  counts   ten   lieath 

Nt 

cletiaf?"  But  that 'nuniber'is  arhitra'ry.     Witli'equal  jus-   ^'^^^"TX 
tice  they  niay  be  said  to  be  inoi-e  or  fewer,  according  as    '-/  r  ASj'*^*^  ' '  ■■ 
attention  is  confined  to  general  persecutions,  or  extended  ^ahi-'^   "^  ' 
to  comprehend  the  local ;  to  those  which    were  ordered  qqj.  /n^U^^C    ^  ,*' 
by  an    emperor,  or  including  tliose  which  he  failed   to    x:^~^ti7T^.  - ''' 
repress.     Imperial  general  persecution,   were  few;   local   /    .    .>i^/>o-«.  ^( 
persecutions  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  one  quarter         i      , 
or  another.     .  "'■^■' ' 

Episcopal  equality,  defended  by  Cyprian  in  the  middle 
of  the  third  century,  was  suffering  infringement  even 
then;  in  the  succeeding  generation  a  new  and  higher 
rank  amoiig  bishops,  boldly  claimed  and  received  gene- 
ral reeognition.  Under  the  method  of  church  extension 
then  pursued,  it  was  not  easy  to  wichhold  an  unequal 
weiglit  of  influence  from  the  bishops  of  the  large  cities. 
At  first  the  most  important  cities  were  Jerusalem,  Anti- 
oeh,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  and  Rome.  In  course  of  time 
Jerusalem  was  overtiirown,  Corinth  and  Ephesus  became 
relatively    of    less    importance,    while    xA.Iexandria    and  / 

Carthage  rose  each  to   a  proper  distinction   of  its   own.    />/,   //<  <^/  A^  H<^ 
During  the  third  century  the  largest  and  most  influential        »     ,       /■    ,y   A-t- 
churches  were  those  of  Antiodi,  Alexandria,  Rome  avjd  9f^}^'^    %^ 
Carthage.     Several  causes  co-operated   to  confer  a  pre-  /**■  tx    A-*^*, 
dominant    influence    upon    the  churches   in   those   chief 
cities  ;  the  number  of  their  congregations,  the  extent  of 
their    suburban    missions,  the   talent   developed  by   the 
great  demands  upon   their   bishops,  and  their   place   in 
relation  to  the  imperial  government,  and   coinnierce   of 
the  empire.     A  great  number  of  cities  not  so  important 
as  these,  were  3'et  large  enough  to  work  similar  effects  in 
the  history  of  the  church. 

From  the  municii)al  principle  of  one  church  for  one 
city  and  only  one  bishop  for  one  church  proceeded  seve- 
ral effects  at  variance  with  ministerial  parity.  First,  one 
bishop  as  the  presiding  officer  over  several  pastors  of  city 
congregations,  who  could  be  only  presbyters.     Secondly, 


o6 

a  mission  from  a  great  city  churcli  to  a  neio-boi-ing  town 
was  at  first  a  mere  branch  of  the  city  cliureh  ;  but  when 
it  increased  to  more  than  one  congregation,  its  pastor 
became  to  its  congregations  vvliat  the  bishop  of  the  city 
was  to  tl^e  city  congregations  ;  but  that  he  slionld  be 
still  esteemed  a  dependant  and  inferior  of  the  latter 
could  not  be  avoided;  and  recognized  as  bishop,  he  w^as 
a  bisliop  of  humbler  rank.  Thirdly,  there  was  strength 
and  support  expected  by  tiie  churches  in  the  smaller 
towns  from  sucli  connection  with  the  larger  :  and  in 
course  of  time  many  small  country  churches  and  bishops 
at  first  independent,  applied  for,  and  were  accepted  into 
such  filial  rehitions  to  some  great  city  church. 

Thus,  before  the  end  of  the  third  century,  the  juris- 
diction of  some  of  tlie  great  city  bishops  extended  very 
far.  Tiiat  of  Rome  included  not  onl}'  lier  proper  mis- 
sions, but  the  greater  part  of  central,  and  all  the  south 
of  Italy,  and  perhaps  tke  adjoining  islands  Sicily,  Sardi- 
tiia,  and  Corsica.  Cartilage  had  also  become  head  of  the 
churches  in  North  Africa;  Alexandria  of  most  of  those 
in  Egypt,  and  Antioch,  now  the  oldest  of  the  large 
churches  held  a  similar  position  in  Syria  and  the  further 
east. 

Consequently,  a  new  rank  was  established  among 
ministers,  in  those  bishops  over  bisliops  in  the  jurisdiction 
of  tlie   metropolitan    cities.     Still    it  was  a   system   not  , 

formally  and  legally  established  during  the  third  century,  Ij^l  fid 
The  superior  bishops  were  styled   simply   as  bishops  of/w-^f^ 
f  f/  -    ,     the  first  seat,  Primae  scdis  cpiscopi,  or  Prhni,  or  Primates.  /  /r^,£,^ 

'      Such  a  one  was  considered  as  having  the  right  to  convoke  /^  '  ^y 
,         .,      a  council  of  the  bishops  of  his  province,  and  to  preside  v?/    „  ' ) 
,    ■:/    .    /in  It;   and,   m   tlie  interval,  the   right   or  judicature    I'^f^f^j^ 
"1  ^  ^^^     ^matters  aifectino;  anv  bishop  of  the  province.  '    ^',1:^ 

j^^^tu-r  f^-^-t^r^'  Obviously,  in  those  days,  provincial   councils  tended   JJ y^^ 

to  consolidate  the  metropolitan  system  in  all  its  parts.  rii   • 

A  marked   distinction    was   now   made   between    the     / 
clergy    {clenis)   and   the   laity,   (laid),  the   former  being 


/tJ/c  u^   Ar    viewed  as  a  sort  of  spiritual   aristocracy.     They    were 

,  /  sometimes  spoken  of  in  terms  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  as 

Priests  and  Levites.     Ministers  of  the  gospel  were,  at  the 

great  centres  of  population,  about  the  beginning  of  the 


56 


fourrli  (H'utnry,  losiiiL!,-  siulir  of  their  siiiiplc  ovani^-t'licnl 
vocation,  and  takincy  upon  ihtMu  the  features  of  a  sacer- 
dotal order.  A  itrofessioii  of  saiictitv  was  deiiiaiided  of 
them  ahove  other  nuMi  ;  and  many  thino's  whi(;h  were 
not  sinful  m  other  men  were  held  to  be  sinful  in  them. 

Among  the  oj)i)onents,  whom  Christianity  had  to 
encounter  in  argument,  the  ablest  were  still  the  Neo- 
Platonist  philosophers,  of  whom  hy  far  the  most  learned 
and  gifted  were  Plotinus  and  Porphyry.  And  it  was 
Piotinus  who  gave  its  ulnu)st  comjileteness  to  that  i)hi- 
losophy.  His  own  work  was  done  chiefly  in  our  former 
pericxl ;  buthisinflucnce  against  cliristianity  was  stronger 
after  his  death,  through  sotne  of  his  pui»ils.  I'lotinus 
lectured  in  vario\is  places,  from  Persia  to  ]\ome,  and 
UM'ote  many  books,  which  were  highly  esteemed,  and 
some  of  which  still  sui'vix'e.  lie  died  in,  or  about  the 
year  270.  The  ISTeo-Platonic  sect  had  already  spread 
over  most  of  the  civilized  world  ;  and  its  style  of  think- 
ing as  molded  by  Plotinus  was  that  which  ()[)posed  itself 
with  most  effect  to  the  christian  apologist,  througli  tlie 
rest  of  the  pei-iod. 

Porpliyry  of  Tyre,  a  pupil  of  Plotinus,  flourished 
between  260  and  305.  Ilis  argument  against  Christianity 
was  a  large  work,  extending  to  fifteen  books.  It  is  no 
longer  extant  as  a  whole  ;  bat  portions  of  it  remain  as 
quotations  in  the  writings  of  christians  who  responded 
to  it. 

Of  Hierocles,  an  electic  pliilosoplier,  we  lear"n  chiefly 
from  the  notice  taken  of  his  book  against  Christianity 
by  Lactantius,  and  the  repl}'  to  it  by  Eusebius.  It  was 
composed  during  the  final  persecution,  and  called 
"  Words  of  a  trutli-lover  to  the  christians."  Hierocles 
not  only  wrote  against  Christianity,  but  also  l)ears  the 
blame  of  having  instigated  that  persecution  which  has 
branded  the  name  of  Diocletian.  He  was  governor  of 
Bithynia  under  that  emperor. 

lamblichus  of  C/halcis,  in  Coelo  Syria,  wrote  a  work 
on  the  life  and  pliilosophy  of  Pythagoras,  in  which  lie 
introduced  arguments  designed  to  resist  the  progress  of 
Christianity.  lamblichus  enjoyed  the  highest  philosophi- 
cal reputation  in  his  time  which  was  the  iirst  thirty  years 
of  the  fourth  centurv. 


r 


^f^yC^f-u-i  .'  czu^Aif-O^--^ 


58 


111  the  lield  of  tlK'iilojj^ical  disriisHion  tlie  x\lexan(lrian 
scliool  still  exei-ted  the  widest  iiiHuence.  Theolog^ical 
writers  were  divided  for  and  a^-aiiist  the  (h)c;triiies  of 
Orige;;,  and  hiter  in  tlie  [)eriod,  \\iih  more  intensity,  re- 
s[)eeting  those  of  Ariiis.  Latin  writei's  were  inferior, 
as  compared  with  the  Greek  in  analytical  i)o\ver,  and 
subtlety  of  discrimination.  Their  theoloo-y  was  more 
])ractical,  but  rndei-  in  its  structure.  Lack  of  specula- 
tion gave  greater  stability  to  tlieir  docti-ines  and  style, 
and  their  thoughts  turned  more  upon  points  t)f  discipline 
and  government.  It  was  from  Greece  tliat  Roman  phi- 
losophy was  derived,  and  from  Greeks  came  also  the  first 
part  of  systematic  thet)logy. 

The  principal  christian  authors  in  Latin  were  Corn- 
modianus,  and  Arnobius  both  of  JSTorth  Africa,  and  Lac- 
tantius  who  studied  with  Arnobius.  Comniodianus,  the 
earliest  christian  jioet  in  Latin,  was  author  of  a  poem  on 
the  evidences  of  Christianity,  written  about  270.  Arno- 
j^^(Ayn.^lv\  (■■  bius,  about  805   j)iiblished  an    apologetic  work   called  a 

"Disputation  against  the  Gentiles."  The  writings  of 
Lactantius  ai'e  of  much  more  importance,  and  in  more 
elegant  Latin  than  any  of  his  predecessors  had  been  able 
to  command.  They  are  chieHy  controversial,  in  defence 
of  christian  doctrine,  against  lieatlienisni  and  heathen 
philosophy.      Lactantius  died  between  325  and  350. 

Among  errorists  Paul  of  Samosato,  bisliop  of  Antiocli, 

I  ,^  f  '  '/   was  charged  with  preaching  a  variety  of  monarchianism, 

^  '  •  similar  to  that  of  Sabellius,  and  with  conduct  otherwise 

unbecoming  a   minister  of  the  gospel.     In   a  council  at 

Antioch  2(^  he  was  tried  and  deposed,  but  protected  by 

Zenobia    (Xneen    of   Palmyra,    he    continued    in     office. 

C^  /,;„When    Aurelian     had    defeated    Zenobia    272,   he    con- 

/^^,,  v.fj.'- strained  Paul  to  give  place  to  the  bishop  appointed  by 

^  y^^  the  council. 

t^^  f  "    '^^^       lu  Egypt,  a  schism  t(>»ok  place  during  the  Diocletian  ^'"^  ^' 

pa^-.  <-c..  ••'•  ''ij.^, persecution.      Meletius,  bisliop  of  Lycopolis  in  tlie  The-    c-^^  JJ 

u(<j^--^     "^'    ^  baid,  for  some  cause  which  is  not  satisfactorily  explained,  fZ  f^^-   ' 

Ivtx6-"'''^*  broke  off  his  connection  with  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  j'/e,,,,.-^ 

Several  other  Egyptian  bishops  joined  him,  and  resisted,'!,/'  c<.,c 

all  attempts  to  bring  them  back  to  allegiance  to  Alexan-//a"4//>»< 

dria.     It  was   one   of  several   cases  of  resistance  on  the  fiuuirwn 


/  -~.       ^    7 , 


^U 


....A 


part  of  parocli'nil  l)isli()ps  to  tlie  ;ii,^<i;r(.'.s.-^i(iiis  of  the  metro-    - 
jiolitaii. 

In  the  Diocletian  ['ersecntion,  it  was  exacted  of  christ- 
ians to  surrender  their  copies  of  the  Scrijittires  to  be 
destroyed.  Those  wlio  submitted  were  counted  amon<>; 
the  hipsed,  as  Tradilorcs. 

The  most  reinaikable  heresy  of  the  hist  half  of  tlie 
third  century  came  from  the  side  of  Persia,  and  consisted 
in  a  combination  of  some  elements  of  Christianity  witli 
some  of  later  Avestanism  and  of  Buddhism.  Its  author 
was  Maui,  Manes,  or  Manichaeus,a  Pei-sian,  who  a[)peared 
as  a  religious  teacher  aboui  270. 

1.  Mani  taught  tlie  doctrine  of  two  spiritual  kingdoms  Fv"/'    ,  •••  ^'        '^ 
of  good  and  of  evil,  and  also  of  one  supreme  power  com-  '^-%  ^C-Vr  ^;-  ^^'^' .. 
prehending  botli.      Good  was  identified  with   light,  evil      /'                      ""      ' 
with  (hirkness.                                                                                   - 

2.  The  kingdom  of  light  was  internally  harmonious;  /^-.-r/^,  ,: :  ,   j /." 
tliat  of  (hirkness,  in  perpetual  disorder,  and  internal  war.     Cii)>i'^~'l'^-r 

^        8.    The   evil    s])irits   assaulted   tlie    kin-dom  of  light.      I         y /}, 
WtifvThe  One  Supreme  God  brought  man  into  existence  '•^'^^^L^^^y        j     ka^i^j^- 
~  4^     bound  him  in  matter  that  he  might  resist  the  forces  of  evil,  '^^y^     ,        *  T  *j 
-<s^  y*"-     4_   Mtiii  ^vas   originally  joined    to  tlie    five    pure  ele-  ^ 

"""  ments  of  nature, — tire,  light,  air,  eartb  and  watei-.     But  '  '      \-      -  •  /(. 
in  the  war  with  the  demons  and  the  impure  elements,  bo  X  -  '  f 

was  worsted,  and  held  in  fetters  of  matter.  ,.<■  r.  T:.     .      ^?'    ,^ 

^  ,    ■;      5-  The  Almighty  sent  the  living  spirit,  an  emanation  ^'"**v 

(L^«/_-from  himself,  who  raised  man  once  more  to  the  kingdom   -^v/<,l  a^   (^'■'■^- 
of  light.  ~e.  (^   C^  rc''-  ■ 

6.  Meanwhile  the   powers   of  evil    had  succeeded  in  '^ud^b-dtU^  . 
retaining  a  part  of  man's  light-essence  involved  in  mat- 
ter, an    element  which   has   to  go  through  a  process  of 
purification  and  development  towards  liberation. 

7.  To  that  end,  the  spirits  of  light  still  bound  up  with 
matter  are  through  the  process  of  generation  into  Iniman 
nature,  rendered  conscious  and  intelligent,  and  by  the 
means  of  religious  purification,  eliminated  from  matter 
in  man,  and  restored  to  the  realm  of  pure  spirit,  in  the 
kingdom  of  liglit. 

8.  This  process  is  now  going  on.  Meanwhile,  the 
liberated  souls  are  placed  in  the  sun  and  moon,  from 
from  whicli  tbcy  exert  an  influence  to  draw  upwards  to 


*? 


tliemselveB  the  spirits  still  connected  wit'li  matter,  by  the 
process  of  evolution  in  vegetable  and  animal  life. 

9.  Matter,  after  being  exsicate<i  of  all  tlie  elements  of 
light  and  pure  life,  was  to  be  reduced  by  fire  to  an  inert 
mass.  And  souls  wlio  still  submitted  themselves  to  sin 
were  to  be  banished  forever  to  its  inhospitable  desolasion. 

10.  Mani  was  regarded  by  his  followei's  as  the  incar- 
nation of  tiie  Paraclete.  All  his  writings  were  in  their 
estimation,  hoi}'  scripture.  Only  such  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  as  suited  tlieir  views  wei-e  accepted  by  him 
and  his  followers.  They  had  also  tlieir  exoteric  and 
esoteric  instructions,  for  two  different  classes  of  their 
people,  their  Aaditnrs  and  their  *SV///?/.S',  or  Elect. 

The  Elect  constituted  their  sacerdotal  class,  in  the 
highest  stage  ot  purification.  The  Auditors  were  their 
common  members,  who  were  taught  that  their  imperfect 
righteousness  could  be  raised  to  completeness  by  obtain- 
ing an  interest  in  the  superabundant  righteousness  of 
the  Elect. 

From  the  Elect  were  chosen  the  [jresiding  officers  of 
the  Manicha?an  churcli,  the  orders  of  which  were  first, 
Mani,  (the  embodied  Paraclete),  after  his  death  repre- 
ted  by  a  sacerdotal  chief ;  second,  twelve  w/afz/^/r/;  and 
third,  the  seventy-two  bishops  of  the  Manichsean 
churches. 

After  their  founder's  death,  this  sect  found  many 
adherents,  especially  in  the  East  and  in  North  Africa, 
although  they  suffered  much  persecution  from  both 
Persian  and  Roman  authorities.  Maui  was  himself  put 
to  death  by  order  of  King  Baliaram  L,  of  Persia,  some- 
time between  272  and  277. 

The  principal  theological  question  of  the  time  still 
related  to  the  Person  of  Christ;  but  now  chiefl}' as  a 
person  in  the  Godhead,  thereby  involving  discussion  of 
the  whole  subject  of  the  divine  Trinity  ;  and  that  now 
more  closely  determined  by  the  bearings  of  the  Alexan- 
drian theology. 

By    the    beginning    of   the    fourth    century   a    large 

amount  of  property  had  come  into  the  hands   of  christ- 

-ians;  and   in    some   places  tlieir  church  edifices  were  of 

great  elegance.^ No  pictures  or  religious  s^'mbols  were 


iUi- 


61 

allowed  "m  tliem,  altlioiiijli  such  were  used  om  toml),^,  iind 
on  iiouseliold  utensil:^.  In  the  catMconibs  are  found  the 
luonograni  of"  tlie  name  of  Clii'ist,  tlie  <h)ve,  the  tish,  the 
cross,  and  otlier  eliristian  synd)ols.  And  in  christian 
worsliip  and  observances  cert;iin  symbolical  nnndjci's 
wQva  of  fre(incnt  occurrence. 

TllUn)    PKIMOD— 325  TO  1517   A.    D. 

With  the  accession  of  Constantine  to  the  undivided 
throne  begins  tlie  third  of  the  grand  periods  into  whicli 
the  history  of  tlie  christian  church,  first  united  with  the 
Roman  enqiire  as  the  state  religion,  in  course  of  pro- 
gress, took  to  itself  the  features  of  Roman  government, 
and  when  tlie  Western  emi)ire  fell,  assumed  its  place  of 
sujieriority  among  the  nations;  and  when  the  Gospel 
was  bound  in  fetters  of  human   law.  '^  iS't 

Within  that  long  period,  extending  to  tlie  early  part   ' 
of  tiie    sixteenth    century,  various   changes   took    [ilace. 
marking  several  subordinate  steps  of  [jrogress  or  decline. 

I.     325—395. 

First  of  those  sections  is  that  of  the  rapid  decline  of 
Ileatbenism,  in  the-end  of  which  its  principal  rites  were 
'^  suppressed  by  law.     When  Christianity  became   the   rul- 

ing religioji  ^Heathenism   had  no  fortitude  to  withstand 
the   distavor  of  government ;  and  when   its  ceremonies  . 
.were   made    unlawful   it   rapidly  dwindled    away.     The 
'-'TC      emperors   henceforth    become   the   external   defenders  of '     .- 

r.j<^  church.  ,   I',,.,.,.. 

;l.;.W-"With  Constantine's  victory  at  Adrianople,   the   last  0'^  -    •  -      ^^^ 
.  ,  ^rw^i-H-estige  of  Diocletian's  plan  of  government  disappeared ;  •  f^ 

'P^r"'/!*  ^^^^'a  wiser,  and  a  more  effective  one  was  constructed  by  the 
Vo^y^V  nev/ emperor.     While  the  sovereign  was  to   be  one,  tjie        ,  ^;^^ 

division    of    territorv   was    retained,   under    the    names  ^^'^n 
of    the    Prefectures  "of    Gaul,    of   Italy,    of    lUyncum, 
and  of  the  East,  over  which  were  appointed  officers  called  * 
Prefects.     The   Prefectures  were  divided  into  Dioceses,  f. 
which  were  governed  by  Vicars  (Vicarii),and  the  Dioceses,  ^    _ 
into  provinces,  under  the  administration  of  Rectores,  or     •' 
Presides;  and  each   Province  was   divided  into  smaller 


<r^ 


^u^  /^-'^  ^--^^  ^' 


l,f^. 


c 


'62  •     • 

'  districts  with   a  corresponding  distrihiition    of  civil  otii- 

cers.  A  similar  dis[)Osal  was  made  of  the  army, 
under  its  own  proper  commanders.  And  honors  and 
titles  of  honor  were  graduated  in  like  manner,  from  the 
Emperor  down  to  the  hnnihlest  who  had  claim  to  dis- 
tinction. The  reins  of  these  ramified  authorities  were 
to  be  gatliered  together  in  the  hands  one  monarcli  whose 
office  was  to  he  hereditai\y. 

In  this  system  Christianity  took  its  place,  and  ada|)ted 
its  government  to  the  arrangements  for  the  state.  Dur- 
ing the  preceding  fifty  or  sixty  years,  the  order  of  the 
church  had  been  growing  into  such  a  shape  that  no  act 
of  violence  was  needed  to  effect  conformity.  \"et  it  took 
some  time  to  complete  the  correspondence,  on  the  part  of 
the  church,  and  as  respects  tlie  distribution  of  her  higher 
jurisdictions,  it  was  never  precisely  fitted,  though  every 
whei-e  a))pr()ximate  to  the  civil.  A  general  council  at 
CoTistantinople,  in  381,  established  the  suixu'ioi'ity  of  the 
bishops   of  a    diocese   over  the  bishops  of  the  Provinces  i 

within  the  Diocese,  and  of  the  Diocesan  synods  over  the 
Provincial  synods;  and  both  were  regularly  appointed 
church  courts,  and  met  at  tlie  call  of  their  respective 
superior  bishops. 

The  head  of  that  churcli  system  of  gcn-ernment  was 
the  emperor,  who  alone  convoked  general  councils,  and 
and  {(resided  in  them,  personally,  or  by  his  commissioner, 
and  gave  the  force  of  law  to  their  acts.  The  first  eccle- 
siastical council  called  by  an  emperor  was  the  synod  of 
Aries  in  314.  And  the  first  general  council  of  the  churcli 
ir.   i-'-j^     met  at  Nice   in  Bithynia,  in  325,  at  the  command,  and 

under  the  presidency  of  Constantine.  _^     >_ 

The  order  of  ranks,  in  the  ministry  recognized  under  ;^^-'-*'''^  '''*■ 

the  new  constitution  w^ere  those  of  Exarchs,  otherwise,    (p^,.'^!!^.'-^'^ 

■^ckiv.  ^'''*'^'-''  Archbishops,  ruling  eacli  a  Diocese  of  the  empire  ;  second,    <  (^AJtU 

^"'  ^'4  ^'^.Metropolitans,     also    called     sometimes.    Archbishops,     ^         ^  ^^^Arh 

JtiHe-i*^-  ruling  each  over  a  province,  tliirdly  Bishops  rulins;  over      '"'^      '  . 

^ "'    smaller  sees  consisting   of  various  congregations,  minis-      -   - 

tered  to  by  Presbyters;  and  fourth  tlie  Presbyter  pastors    (ii-'\<-\  ^  ^^^ 
,  ,    '  If  of  congregations:  and  within  the  congregation  its  Dea-     WrS^i- 
'-'■'-^  I  cons  and  other  Parochial  ofhcers. 


8 


l(^.f,  ^/vu'«-   ^"^ 


Presbyters   and    the    lower   cleri»;y,  accordiiii;^   to  this  -■•MJLr>tri.i  '■      i-r 

system  wore  no  hunger  to  be  chosen  by  tlie  ))eople  ot'tlieir  /^-^-C^  . 
res|)ectivo  clmrelies,  but  appointed  by  the  bisho[).  Tlie 
election  <>f  a  bishoj)  depended  mostly  on  the  other 
bisbojis  of  the  [yrovince.  Still  the  consent  of  the  people 
was  recpiiretl ;  and  especially  in  X\\o  West,  was  often 
decisix'e,  if  not  imperative. 

Constantino   died    in    337,  havino-    recei\'ed  christian 
baptism  <mly  a  few  days  before,     lie  was  ba|)tized  between 
Eastoi'  and  Pentecost,  and  died  on  the    latter.      His  sons 
Constantino.    C'Onstantius    and    C-onstans,     divided     the 
empire   among   them  :   but   in    the  coni's(>   of  successive 
civil  wars,  it  came  in  850  into  the  hands  of  Constantius 
alone.     In  861  Julian,  a  nephew  of  Constantino  I.,  came  ^    _    •      .^  r, 
to   the   throne.     An    admirer   of  heathen    literature  and  XAtutw-- ''^  ^j'**  ' 
philosophy,  Julian  attempted  to  re-establish  polytheism,  ' 
and    the    old    heathen  worshi]).     Put    his    reign  was   too 
brief  to    otiect   his    designs.      Ho   fell    in  I)attle  with  the 
Persians  in  268.     Jovian  wlu)  succeeded  him  was  a  zeal- 
ous   christian,-  in    his    brief  reign    of  se\'on    uionths,    he 
repealed  all   tlie   lav;s  of  Julian    adverse  to  Christianity. 
After  his  death,  the  empire  was  again  divided  into  East- 
ern and  Western,  with  much  irregularity  for  about  fifteen 
years.     In  379,  Theodosius  became  emperor  of  the  East. 
In    the  West   disorder   continued   thirteen  yeans  longer, 
until   392,   when   Theodosius    united   the   whole    empire 
under  his  own  hand,  and  held  it  until  his  death   in   395. 
By  his    legislation    all    kinds  of  idolatry  were   forbidden 
under  severe   panishmonts.     The   emperor   Constantius 
had  prohibited  sacrifice  ;  but  his  law  could  not  be  carried 
into  effect  at  the  centres  of  concourse,  Rome  and  Alexan-     /Y  ...^^^  ^  / 
dria.     After  Theodosius  interdicted  the  payment  of  their  (f-y  /        /C-^/  \(< 
o.xpenses    from  the  public    treasury   sacrifices  were   nojzj       »      /,,,  '  c 
longer  observed,     v-t.:'    >  f^-    <     --    •■'        .  '         .  < «  'v        ^ 

It  is  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  that  ^^ ^^ ,/  j^^- ,  ^,  ,  ,  /  -^ 
first  come  in  sight  of  monasticism,  as  a  recognized  style  f^\^  --tXH^t,: 
of  religious  lift?  within   the   christian  cliureh.     N^t  that  ._^j^_  t>rvovx«-.--o  v^u^ 
the  church  ever  originated  a  monastic  order,  but  tliat  the  .,'.(^/-j!:f,::,  ^^.,.^^^.i 
body  of  christian  people  esteemed  that  way  of  life  as  one  ■z.-z/C'  j 

of  eminent  sanctity.     Its  institutions  organized  by  other  ^^^^^^  ^,^^   -t^  ."^  ^- 
means   came   to   the   church   for  sanction,  and  generally  ,y".^^^^^^^ 


t>-    AxM.-vI 


received  it;   altliono-li,  fVom    the  first  they  were  more  in 


c  the  spirit   of  Bu(hihisui    than  ot  cliristianity.      Monasti-  fi/ 

^'"^  "^  '  V     t'ism  is  an  essential  institution  of  Biuklhism,  but  not  of  the  }Af('-'^''^1i 

..  ■      ^tf'^-^  p-^'^'(^ospel  of  Clirist.      At  the  beginning  of  the   fourth   cen-  [a  ,3^Cw 

i._  ^l'  '     tury,  Bnchlliism  was  in  its  prime,  and  pouring  its  influen-*f^.  |^  Ij^i 

ees   in    upon    the    popuhition    of   the   easteiMi    eni})ire    in  'yi_u^ti- 

various  ways.  r   ,  - 

V  rt>  •'■ttr    Asceticism    had    been    practiced,  to   some  .extent,   as  v^/tu  u^u 

early  as   tlie   second   century:   but   tlien,  and  during  the  i^Cw/ttt, 

\  ,u(<-</«':- fipgt  half  of  the   tliird,  ascetics    liad    Hved    among  other  Y^,m^,...C- 

ata'^^vV'christians,    witiiout    external    distinction.       During   t^ie  W /V^  ,  j^^ 

;.  ciL^  f'^-fiA^   Decian  persecution,  some  christnms  of  Egypt  fled  to  the^ 
'yK(X'r^^v  ^^^^^^^^l  ^^^^^^^    and    there    gave    themselves    up    to    austerities.^   f^^'^^ fi 
"  [fiA  ' (c    '^--" '^-"  They  were  called   i/r,j/yir«f,  Eremites,  or  t/opaxoi,  monks.    .]^'^^'~-^ 
"-  '       '^  u  ,Ll-a.(u.  Public  attention  was  turned  to  the  subject  in  311,  by  the  ''^^  ^. 
-\     d  Ptv-^^  appearance    or  the    iiermit    Antony  in    a    pi'ocession    in '^-'■'^ 
^^v^^     Alexandria.     He  had   begun   to  ]M-each  his  doctrine?  as  ff-*,/" 
•  ■  ( V^  ^  v-4uc^v^  early  as  805,  and  fouml  many  to  admire  and  imitate  him.   0'>-'^ 
"-^y    '^rt  •  ^  ^^^J^/ After  a  number  of  hermits  had    been   brought  together, '''^"'""' 
.f^txaX-<L.     '  *^'^'rj  a   place   of  habitation  was   founded   for   them  by  Pacho- '^z  ,"^'"i:' 
^, ,■  1  -  ?«^  »'^"'    0^.  mius,   where  they  could   dwell   together,  on    tlie  island />-"<''•'' '''^^ '^ 
^^V-    <;)^  Tabenna  in  the  Nile.     Soon  afterwards  similar  societies;:®';^-^ '^    i 
,,      "0'     ^-"^'were  formed  in    the  deserts  of  Sketis   and  of  Nitria  in/^f  ^  it^j  ^f- 
Mu—  ^■*^-'^*''^''^  * 'Egypt,  in  the  desert  near  Gaza,  and  elsewhere  in   Pales- '^.^'*"   g 
^c*rM/r*^         tine  and  Syria.     Thence  the  example  extended  to  Arme-  ^';'.^/r. 
nia  and  Asia   Minor,  chiefly   in   desert  places;    but   ere  ^U"'*^  *^' 
the  end   of  the  fourth   cciitur\',   sometimes  also  in    the 
neighborhood  of  cities.     Some    ascetics   lived  solitary  ; 
others  in    associations   according  to  some  comn)on  rule. 
Sucli   an    association    was  called  xo(uo3cui^,  or  /jAu^tia,  in 
Greek,  and    Clanstrut/i    in  Latin  ;  a   member  of  it  was. 
xoci^ofitri];:,    or    -oi^odizr^q,    and    the    president,  M^i'^^'^C,  or 
'.■Iftyi/jiaiSfHTi]^.     Alonachism,  as  a  s^'stem,  came   into  the  ^ 

church,  did  not  grow  out  of  it.  Laymen,  not  ministers, 
were  the  lirst  monks.  It  was  introduced  by  individuals, 
not  by  churcli  order.  But  to  christians  of  the  fourth 
century  the  practice  seemed  eminently  hol3%  and  monks 
held  in  such  esteem,  that  ere  the  end  of  the  century 
clergy  of  the  highest  rank  belonged  to  their  number. 

(Questions  relating  to  church  order  and  doctrine  were 
chiefly  the  schism  of  the  Donatists  and  the  heresy  of 
Arius. 


65 

Tlic  fanaticism  oi"  seckiui>;  persecution  was    rejtrovetl  i  , 

and   resisted   by  C«icilianus  xvlio   was   elected    bisliop    of^v''^-'-'-^-'""^  ^^'^ 
(^ai'thage  in   311.     A  strong  [larty  opposed  liini,  and  get  t(/r<t<U  '^-^  ^^* 
up  Majorinus  and  afterwards  Donatus  as  their  hisliops.  ,-,.vOf  k<Sr^<*;-i^*^ 
Tlie  controversy  continued  long.     In    313   the  case  was  ^.TTr's^^i  j^*- 
submitted   to   the   emperor   Constantine,  who  appointed -i.^   rw/  - 
three  Gallic  l)ishop9  with  the  bishop  of  Rome  to  investi- 
gate the   matter.     The  decision  was    unfavorable  to  the 
Donatists,    wlio    ex))iessed    their    dissatisfaction.     The 
emperor  then  in  314,  called   a  council  to  meet  at  Aries, 
whose  decision  was  also  adverse  to  them,     Xotwithstand-  ^^ 

ing,  the   party  maintained  its   existence  in   Africa  until  k'-<'^'^     '-' ''-^  '^'^' 
that  province  wa.s  overrun  by  the  Vandals. 

The   Meletian   scliism   also  continued  in  Egypt,  and 
several  persons  in  different  quarters  protested  against  the  f^ 

o-rowing    prelatical    aristocracy.       Such    were    Aerius,  0.'^'^  ''■-^'    ^^''-''•^ 
Jovinian,  and  Yigilantius.     But  the  great   body  of  the  lit' v..-  ,       i"'-' 
churcli  was  well   pleased  with   tlie  new  relations   to   the    ■j.jJ^-'^  **  K^" 
state,  and  with  the  hierarchical  order,  by  which  it  seemed 
so  well  balanced  witli  the  civil  authorities. 

The  most  momentous  doctrinal  controversy  was  that        ,    ^  r 

concerning  Arius.     Origen   had  taught   that  "the  Divine  a»^i<^<' M^'*!' 
Logos  proceeds  from   the  will   of  God  the  Father  con- l'l"''y^«K^y  ^^^ , 
tinually  and  from  all  eternity,  that  he  is  inferior  to  God  ^^     i^\f^^-J^^''^ 
and   difterent  as   to   substance.     Dionysius   at  one   time  r^_    ^.  ^\ja^  ^"^ 
taught  that  the  relation  between  Christ  and  God  was  that  'jc^\^^/^t^-^'^ 
of  eternal   creation.      He   afterwards   saw  his   error   and  j^^Iuajl  m  ^Ju-.^- 
withdrew   from   it.     But  Arius,  ix  pupil    of  the   Syrian  /-^^^^,  ,^  , 
school,  and   a  Presbyter  in  Alexandria,  boldly  accepted  i''   ;,  Cox/^  ' 
thatposition,  and  defined  it  in  his  own  w^ay,  teaching  that |  K  ( ^  (.  ivt^iwHi^  <-• 
the  Divine  Logos  was  the   only  created  of  the  Father,!  J^A^^t- 1>4>*^*~  ■*■- 
that  all  other  things  were  created  by  him,  that  he  is  per-i^ft(C      2>^-* 
feet,  and  as  like  God  as  a  created  being  can  be.  '  ;  ^^  vfi^^-'^i 

This  view  was  condemned  Ijy  Alexander,  bishop  of 
Alexandria,  in  318  ;  but  many  bishops  in  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor-  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  it.  The  contro- 
versy soon  extended  to  the  whole  East.  Attempts  were  ■  ^ 
made  by  the  emperor  to  bring  it  to  an  cud,  through  means  -'■ '  ^"'^  '  ' 
of  friendly  correspondence  v»^ith  leading  men,  but  with- 
out effect.  Finally  he  called  a  council  of  the  whole 
church  to  meet  at  Nice  in  Bithynia  in  325  for  the  purpose 


-V        V— c*^« 


of  settlino^    tlie    dispute.      The    cause    of  the    bishop    of 
Ix^A/^-tii^  -       ,    Alexandi'ia  was  pled   hy  Athanasins,  then   a   deacon    of     . 
y,  ^.  that    church,    and    by    others.     Arius  was    defended  by  (i^-w'  j  "^ 

a  strong  party,  but  was  condemned  as  guilty  of  heresy. 
u</'t  (^"iwu i^^And   the  faith    of  the  church  was  defined  to  be  that  the 
(}w\-  M  ^  0-^  Divine  Logos  is  uncreated.     The  council  also  drew  up  a 
,  /.^,7l- "i  l,t  <^'"^^brief    confession    of   orthodox   faith.      In    that    eymbol 
(^(jA^'''    called  the  Nicene  Creed  were  summed  up  the    results  of 
,,\j  +  .'       theological  discussion  so  far  as  then  settled. 
lf^)vUt>^l'        The  council  also  undertook  to   terminate  the  schism 
of  Meletius,  and  the  difference  between  the  practice  of 
the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  in  the  observation  of 
haster,  b}'  giving  judgment  in  the   former  case  against 
Meletius  and  deciding  the  latter  in  favor  of  the  West. 
C^^i  «i*.t>  »  nvjT'^-       Toucliing  the   number  of  bishops  assembled  at  Nice 
r^.r-a.  '^y()^>fi.' statements  differ.     It  is  commonly  given    as  318.     Most 
■  ftoO-t^f^i"  ^^  ^'^^  Arian  members  submitted  to  the  doctrinal    decis- 
w      /.  ■    Jft'^i^  ions,  though  with  reluctance,  on  some   points,  e8[)ecially  ,-    .- 

'^  '    ^''ma.'-^v  ck,Oi'i  tiie  consubstantiality  of  the  Father  and  Son  iri  Deity.  m^^\ 
*^'^i'''^3r  v^  cuaI^'A.  minority  preferred  to  say  that  the  Son  was  of  nature  |jvf*^«"^ 
iK  (^  Y^,,  ^  similar  to  the  Father.     Instead  oi  bimouacoi;  zQ  noxpc  they  y^riUj^  ^f-^ 

*^       \   "   A        defended  the  doctrine  o^  bu.ocouaco::  r(^  Tzaxtit^  and  on  that  '  , 

"■  -    '■>"'--"^,       ^    Semi-Arian  groun(i  took  tlieir  stand  in  opposition  to  the 

council,  and  obtained  many  adherents,  chiefly  in  the  East.     . 
■ ';  .    ,1.^"   "^.     ■!"    the  coarse  often  years  they  were   strong  enough  to  ti->  t<m<w^^*' 
^Uo^  .•^^^^^  ^c<-Vlepose  Athanasius  from   the  bishopric  of  Alexandria  to  (Tj^/^  o^i" 
M^»^  "'  which  he  liad  been  elevated,  aftei-  the  council.     He  found 

refuge  in  the  West.—  (r<'  ■     -^  ''• 

On  this  question  a  council  was  called  in  347  to  meet 
^/Sardica;  but  it  divided  into  two  councils  and  accom- 
plished nothing.  After  long  continued  controversy,  the 
emperor  Theodosius  called  a  general  council  to  meet  at 
Constantinople  in  381.  One  hundred  and  fifty  bishops 
asseinl)led.  There  the  Nicene  <;reed  was  revised  ;  its 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  confirmed,  and  articles  added 
touching  heresies  which  had  arisen  since  it  was  framed. 
In  this  later  form  tlie  creed  became  the  universally  recog- 
nized symbol  of  orthodoxy.  Pure  Arianism  subsequenth^ 
declined  within  the  empire,  but  maintained  itself  among 
'  the  Germanic  nations.  Semi-Arianism  prevailed  among 
the  Eastern   churches  ;   while  the  Nicene  doctrines  were 


f'V^^       accepted  in  the  Western    empire.     Antiocli  ns  tlie  head   ^^cf^.-^-^^  ., 
of  tlie  Syrian  school  became  deeply  leavened  witjj  semi-    ■^.'  -  'A  ,   -.  , 
Arianism,   Alexandria  continued   lonc^  to  he    the  chief    - 
scliool  of  orthodoxy.     Theologians  took  their  stand  with 
one  or  the  other. 

Theodosius  was  the  last  who  held  tlie  reins  of  the 
united  empire.  lTi)on  his  deatli  in  395,  it  was  divided 
between  iiis  two  sons,  Arcadius  taking  the  East,  and 
Ilonorius  the  West.  In  the  same  year  the  Iluns  upon 
the  JsTorth  broke  into  the  provinces  of  Panonia  and 
Moesia,  and  the  Goths  took  up  ai-ms  for  invasion  of 
Tlirace,  Macedonia  and  Greece,  which  they  effected  next 
year.  Ere  that  time  the  churcli  government  under  the 
constitution  devised  by  Constantine  bad  become  solidified 
into  an  organic  self-sustaining  structure  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  a  new  and  vigorous  life,  to  wliich  the  civil  gov- 
ernment had  nothing  to  correspond.  The  latter  began 
to  l>reak  apart  into  irreparable  decay  ;  the  form^  to 
increase  towards  completeness  of  maturity. 

II.     395—451. 

Another  period  of  church  history,  which  ought  to  be 
studied  by  itself,  is  that  which  extends  from  the  death  of 
Theodosius  to  the  genei-al  council  of  Chalcedon.  It  was 
within  this  period  tiiat  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  defined 
by  the  ancient  classic  fathers,  were  digested  into  a  philo- 
sophic system.  It  was  also  that  during  which  the  Arian 
Goths,  Suevi  and  Vandals  made  thenjselves  masters  of 
the  sea  coast  countries  of  the  western  empire,  arid  the 
heathen  Franks  and  Saxons  took  possession  of  Northern 
Gaul  and  South  Britain. 

Britain  was  abandoned  by  Roman  arms  about  428, 
and  Anglo-Saxons  commenced  their  settlements  there  in 
449.  Ere  that  date  the  Franks  had  established  for  them- 
aelv^es  an  independent  government  in  Gaul.  vSpain  from 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  liad  been  overrun  by 
Suevi  and  Vandals,  and  was  now  completely  given  up  by 
the  emperor  of  the  West.  In  427  the  Vandals,  worsted 
by  the  Suevi  in  Spain,  passed  over  to  Africa,  and  con- 
quered the  whole  of  that  province  before  439.  The\'  also 
reduced  Sardinia,  Corsica,  Sicily  and  the  Balearic  islands. 


1' 


The  AleDiaimi  and  Burgundians  had  taken  possession  of 
Helvetia,  aind  districts  adjoining,  and  the  Goths,  of  South- 
ern France.  At  the  middle  of  the  iifth  century  little 
remained  to  the  Western  empire  heyond  the  confines  of 
Ital}'.  Panonia,  Dalmatia  and  Noricum  had  been  taken 
I)}"  the  Eastern  empire.  The  Eastern  em[)ire  itself  had, 
in  428,  divided  Armenia  with  the  Persians;  in441,itliad 
been  ravaged  by  the  Iluns  under  Attila  from  the  Danube 
to  Constantinople  ;  and  in  446  had  submitted  to  pay  a 
yearly  tribute  for  the  privilege  of  peace.  The  period  was 
covered  entirely  by  the  two  successive  reigns  of  Arcadius 
(395—408)  and"^Theodosius  IL,  (408—450),  emperors  of 
the  East,  parallel  with  those  of  Ilonorius  (395 — 423)  and 
of  Yalentinian  III.  (423 — 455),  emperors  of  the  West. 

Although  the  Western  empire  was,  by  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century,  broken  to  [lieces,  and  (Mily  a  fragment 
of  it  remaining  under  the  old  dominion,  the  cluirch  stood 
firm,  and  liad  received  a  large  addition  to  her  subjects. 
The  old  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  were  not  remo\'ed, 
or  extinguished;  they  were  only  subdued  and  governed 
by  German  invaders  instead  of  by  Romans  ;  while  the 
invaders  for  the  most  part,  professed  Christianity 
and  acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church.     The  ' 

old  population  was  mostly  orthodox;  ihe  Germanic 
incomers  mostly  Arian.  Among  the  Goths  that  doctrine 
was  taught' by  tllphilas  in  the  fourth  century.  A  Gothic 
bishop  was  present  at  the  council  of  Nice.  The  Bur- 
gundians, in  413,  came  into  the  chnrch  with  profession 
of  orthodoxy;   but  about  450  adopted  Arianism. 

As  a  general  thing  tliose  Arian  niastei-s  did  not  inter- 
fere with  the  religion  of  their  orthodox  subjects  ;  l)ut  the 
Visigoths  in  the  South  of  Fiance,  and  the  A^andals  in 
Africa  were  exceptions  to  the  rule. 

Christianinity  received  an  additional  load  of  corrup- 
tion from  those  imperfectly  converted   nations.     During 
./-      /vV(i.<h-       this  time,  the   British   isles  were  cut  ofi:'  from  the  juris- 
/";y  (L«-<twX-.    tii<^tion  of  Rome,  by  the  withdrawal  of  Roman  arms,  by' 
^    /r        ,    /^  the  interposition  of  heathen  Franks  in  the  North  of  Gaul 
;^,fKic^  .  '  •         .^j-,^1  j^|(.(^  ^^  ^|-^g   succeeding  period  by  the  establishment 
Xft^tt^  -of  heathen    Saxons  in    the  East  and   South  of  Britain. 

Meanwhile   the    old    British    churches    maintained  their 


'i'lu  e^^^aJL    /oU.*.w^i        7/'=>-a-<^    /rt^'U  ^      "^ Z<e.^  (  -  '"^^-e/J/tcJU 


69 

irround  in  the  Sontliwest  of  Scotland;  from  which 
Patricins,  about  430,  carried  the  gospel  into  Ireland.  It 
spread  with  great,  rapidity  over  the  island,  and  Armagh 
soon  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop. 

On  the   extreme   East,  c])ristiaus  were  subjected   to 
much  oppression  under  rule  of  the  Persian  kings.     From 
343  a  persecut-ion  was  commenced  in  that  quarter  which     ,/^^^^^  ^Ur^c. 
lasted  thirty-five  years,  in^which   thousands   of  christian  ^     A.7;r    -  '■> -^ 
people  with  their   ministers  were  put  to  death.     It  was  r^ 
relaxed   about  398  ;  but   revived  in  418   and  continued 
until  nearly  the  date  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon. 

Sul)seqnentlv  having  adopted  the  doctrines  of  Nes- 
torius,  Persian  christians,  finding  themselves  under  cen- 
sure of  the  churches  in  the  West,  and  separating  from 
them  and  their  relations  to  the  Roman  empire,  received 
protection  from  Persia,  as  loyal  subject.  It  was  uot 
however  until  4^8  that  the  whole  Persian  church  declared, 
by  formal  action,  in  fiivor  of  Nestorianism. 

In  tliat  part  of  Armenia,  which  in  428  came  under 
Persian  rule,  attempts  were  persisted  iu,  for  more  than 
forty  years,  to  establish  the  doctrines  of  the  Avesta 
instead  of  those  of  the  gospel.  In  485  that  eflbrt  was 
abandoned  as  hopeless.  In  that  same  century  Mesrop 
formed  the  Armenian  alphabet  and  translated  the  Bible 
into  the  popular  tongue. 

Theodosius  II.,  emperor  of  the  East  issued,  in  423, 
an  edict  in  which  he  expressed  his  belief  that  no  heathen 
were  to  be  found  within  his  dominions. 

In  the  process  of  framing  such  an  expression  of  christ- 
ian belief  as  should  be  satisfactory  to  the  church,  it  was 
impossible  to  avoid  controversy.  It  was  by  controversy 
that  the  work  had  to  be  done.  The  Arian  and  Semi- 
Arian  controversy  led  to  the  clearest  statement  of  ortho- 
doxv  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity.  -  V^c/i 

in  the  Nicene  Creed,  as  revised  and  extended  at  Con-/  .■•  -^/^^^w/ 
stantinople,  were  summed  up  the  best  results  of  previous  ^-nu^^  ''^  J 
theological  discussion.  That  was  the  work  chiefly  ot 
Greek" theologians.  Latin  writers  make  comparatively 
little  figure  in  it.  Law,  civil  and  moral,  was  the  field  ot 
thought  in  which  those  who  spoke  the  Latin  tongue  had 
proved   themselves  superior  to   all    rivals.     And  now  a 

aL^  /.^y.  y  ^^_"y    /^^^,    ^---       -       y'  (. 


70 

work  remained  to  be  done  for  tlie  church  which  thej- 
were  better  than  any  others  qualified  to  do.  Tliat  was 
twofold  :  first,  definition  of  the  scriptural  doctrine  of 
man's  relations  to  God  ;  and  second,  the  complete  system- 
atic and  practical  statement  and  expositioti  of  the  whole 

body  of  truth  as  then  defined  or  accepted.     And  that  was 

c^-fictt^  fe!-«tu«'^'^  also  effected  through  controversy. 

'ft,         f3til —        When  Alaric  the  Goth  was  threatening  Rome  in  the 
'  _—     ^      -r-  '  year  410,  Pelas^ius,  a  native,  it  is  thouii^ht,  of  Britain,  and 
'  who  liad  been  residing  in  Kome,  was  among  tlie  reiugecs 

to  Sicily.     He  thence  proceeded   to  Africa  accompanied 
b}'  his  friend  Coelestius  and  others.     From  Africa  he  soon 
afterwards  went  to  Palestine  leaving  Coelestius  at  Car- 
tilage.    Coelestius  applying   to  be   ordained    Presbyter, 
was  charged  with  errors  tending  to  exalt  unscrijiturallj^ 
human  free  will.      lie  was  excluded  from  the  church  at 
'  ,'    f        Carthage,   and  went   to    E[)hesus.     His   doctrines    were 
,-,   cv^^t^^-.f^'^.  ^     -,  iiiifiepytood  to  be  the  same  as  those  taui^ht  by  Pela^ius. 
J      Accordingly,  Pelagius  w^as   himself  accused    before    the 
bishop    of  Jerusalem,  within    whose  jurisdiction   he  was 
then  residing,  and  afterwards  in  415  before  tlie  synod  of 
Diospoiis,  as  Lydda  in  Palestine  was  then  called,  without 
r    .vjjrocaring  his  condemnation      Other  councils,  in  various 
,■*>   ^    'v'-'  quarters,  rejected  his  doctrines.    Zosimus  bishf)p  of  Rome  ^^Z' 
^^.  ll.^-M■^^^.  ^^,gj.   jippi-Qved,  and   afterwai'ds   condemned   them.     But 
oi- /C^^^  ^'"they  also  found  acceptance  and  defence,  especially  in  the 
^   ^(/tofM'^TTTEast.     In  the  West   their  [»rincipal  advocate  was  Julian 
^i^^    ^  r,,;   '^"'^'■of  Eclanum  in  Italy. 

,  ^  ^  Those    theologians    lield    that    man's    moral    nature 

"  '-  received  no  iniury  in  the  fall  of  Adam  ;  that  man  is  now 

p  i   .,V'      born,  as  fullj'  as  Adam  was  made,  able  to  do  the  will  of 
^■i  i      Z^  God;  that  all    sin    consists   in   the  intelligent  choice  of 

iCict'o.  ^^   r"     evil;   and  that  in  order  to  tiirn  from  sin  unto    rigliteous- 
^  C<t^<<o^.*^'  ness  nothing  is  needed  but  a  change  of  purpose  on  the 
■^^  Am.Ci^U'.  'Jv  part  of  the  sinner.     A  higher  degree  of  blessedness  and 
,'     ijC  /a»"^  greater    facility  in    attaining    it   are   accessible  through 
^  christian    sacraments   and  instruction.      As   the  law  was 

'  formerly  given  to  facilitate  the  attainment  of  goodness, 
80  latterly,  the  gospel  and  example  of  Christ,  and  par- 
ticular operations  of  grace.  The  Divine  purpose  for 
man's  salvation  is  founded  on  the  Divine  foreknowledge 


/ 


/ 


^{•,..    ^■■-    (^ 


7 


'" 


71 

of  human  action;   and  makes  no  demand  wliich  man  has 
not  full  al)ility  to  comply  with. 

Among  the  opponents  of  l^elagius  were  .Jerome  and 
Augustine.  The  latter,  especially,  in  this  controversy, 
wrought  out  those  statements  of  the  doctrines  of  grace 
whicli  lie  at  the  foundation  of  orthodox  theology.  The 
views  of  Augustine  were  ecclesiastically  confirmed  by 
the  African  synods,  and  the  Western  church  generally. 
Pelagianism,  under  the  name  of  Ccelestius,  was  con- 
demned at  the  genera!  council  of  Ephesus  in  431, 
although  the  Augustinian  doctrines  of  grace  and  pre- 
destination were  not  adopted  by  the  Eastern  christians. 

Pelagianism  is  the  root  oi"  a  number  of  heresies  within 
the  field  of  Anthropology,  like  Monarchianism  in  that 
of  theology.  Under  the  head  ot  theology  error  lies  on 
the  one  hand  to  Monarchianism,  on  the  other  to  Poly- 
theism ;  under  that  of  Anthropology,  in  the  direction 
of  Pelagianism,  or  Fatalism.  Ancient  orthodoxy  lay 
between  the  extremes,  although  not  orthodox  for  that 
reason,  but  for  accordance  with  scripture  and  christian 
experience.  It  was  expressed  in  the  creed  for  Theology, 
and  by  Augustine  for  Anthropology. 

After  the  action  of  the  council,  complete  Pelagianism 
ceased  to  be  professed  to  an}-  great  extent,  while  an  inter- 
mediate ground  between  that  doctrine  and  Augustinian- 
iam,  which    may  be   called  semi-Pelagian,  was   taken   by    fl; i^i^J Uwr 
many  of  the  churclies  in  the  east.     It  was  also  accepted    )j     ^ 
in  some  places  in  the  West,  as  introduced  by  John   Cas-   '^■j^"*'*^    ,, 
sian  a  pupil  of  Chrj'sostom. 

Augustine  was  a  native  of  Africa,  born  at  Tagaste  in  ^-.    ,  - 
IS'umidia,  about  354,  studied  and  practiced  the  profession    .,      .       \^  r    c^ 
of  rhetoric,  was   not  converted   until   over   thirty-three -f-- >Q.'»^'-'>    ^^^■^*^'''^*' 
years  of  age,  became  bishop  of  Hippo  in  395,  and  died  c^^  J>?K-tAv-u  v/rrw  ^ 
in  429.      Ilis  writings  were  numerous,  but  his  great  work,  ^.p^Zl<  «C  ^"i^,    o*^ 
stating  and  defending  the   essential  doctrines   of  christ- ^W^'''^C3  d^/ ' 
ianity  is  his  "  De  Civitate  Dei." 

The  controversy  toucliing  the  sonship  of  Christ  in 
Godhead  was  followed  by  one  concerning  the  relation  of 
the  Divine  Logos  to  the  human  nature  of  Jesus. 

ApoUinaris,  bislio[)  of  Laodicea,  from  362  to  about 
392,  holding  that  natural    man   consists  of  three  consti- 


^. 


,  ,        .  72  , 

tuents,  body,  spirit  and  soul,  taui;-ht  that  Jesus  had  no 
human  soul,  and  that  the  Divine  Logos  took  its  place. 
Some  theologians  were  the  more  disposed  to  accpt  that 

laXt-^vt^i^^.- view,  that  they  believed  the  soul  of  man  to  be   a  part  of 

of  God.  In  that  case,  if  it  was  proper  to  speak  of  an 
ordinary  man's  mother  as  the  mother  of  his  soul,  it 
might  be  equally  proper  to  speak  of  the  Virgin  iSIary  as 
the  mother  of  God,  0zuz6y.o(:.  And  that  fell  in  with,  and 
sustained  a  practice  already  common  in  many  congrega- 
tions. 

Apollinarianism  was  i-ejected  by  the  general  council  at 
Constantinople  in  381.  It  had  contributed  however  to 
that  element  of  definition,  which  recognized  the  [)erfect 
humanity  of  the  Savior. 

In  making  clear  distinction  between  the  human  and 

divine  in  Christ,  some  felt  constrained  to  condemn  the 

growing  practice   of   paying    reverence    to    the    A'^irgin 

Alary,    as  the    mother  of  God.       Such   was   tlie   ground 

■■"7    •   /•v'i-  taken   by  j^estorius,  who  was   made   bishop   of  Constan- 

^  i<.^(eCuy  C^-^p-  tinople    in   428.       Dorotheus,    one    of  his    clergy    when 

^^^v     gi?f /f.*«c  (('-  preaching  one  day,  denied  tliat  it  was  proper  to  call  Mary 

4rii(  di    i'' /CyttM- deoToxo::.     The  congregation   raised  an   outcry  of  dtsap- 

f  ^tJii^  i^  '^     probation,  and    left   the   house.     Nestorius  defended  the 

/a/    /2  Vj>6*i>«>^Pi'^^^yt^>'-     Otliers  of  his  clergy  deserted  him  ;  and  some 

/      '    '    '^  .J  .     '■   of  them  he  deposed.      The  question  soon  became  one  of 

«^A    ^    ^    '/'"^areueral  concern. 

Lf>,,,,,,.    i>ty>l'-c>-  f^t         Tlie  doctrine  defended  by  Nestorius  was  tliat  of  the 

p'Uu-  ^^^'^"^^" separate  existence  of  the  ciivine  and  human  natures    in 

1^   %L*tt^'^**<^'     Christ.     And  according  to  his  view,  to  speak  of  Mary  as 

mother  of  the  divine  nature  was  blasphemy, 
(  /^     V      "     TT      Nestorianism  was  condemned  by  the  general   council 
7  '^"'"at  Ephesus  in   431,  and  Nestorius   was  doposed.      The 

minority  was  so  strong,  and  both  parties  so  violent  that  .  / 

appeal  was  made  to  tlie  emperor.  In  the  end  JSTestorius  a '^'^■"5® 
was  banished  to  an  Oasis  of  upper  Egypt,  about 
435.  He  died  in  exile.  But  a  large  part  of  the  Eastern 
church  chiefly  that  lying  to  the  East  of  the  Euphrates, 
,Sustained  his  doctrines.  In  498,  they  were  ac(;epted  as 
■HlS:  professed  creed  of  tlie  churches  in  Persia  and  the 
further  East,  which  thereby  separated  for  ever  from  the 
Catholic  connection. 


ucy  «^     (U^4^^^  C    ^  . 


73 


111  the  controversy  witli  Nostoriiis,  some  disputants, 
at  whose  liead  was  Cyril  bishoj)  of  Alexandria,  defended 
tlie  opposite  doctrine  to  an  extreme.  The  successor  of 
Cyril  in  tlie  see  of  Alexandria,  Dioscorus.  from  444  till 
451,  was  still  more  violent  in  the  same  canse.  p]ntyi'hcs, 
an  abbot  in  Constantinople,  was  in  448,  condemned  l)v  a 
local  synod  in  that  city  for  teaching  that  the  human"  in 
Christ  was  so  merged  in  the  divine  as  to  make  only  one 
nature.  A  letter  from  Leo  I.  of  Rome  to  Flavian  of 
Constantinoi)le  approved  of  that  action  and  defined  what 
he  thought  the  true  doctrine  of  the  two  natures  in  (Mirist. 

The  censure  of  Eutyches  bore  hard  upon  Dioscorus 
also.  A  general  council  was  summoned  to  meet  at 
Ephesus  nextyear  (449).  Dioscorus,  as  president  pi  ocnred 
a  resolution  in  favor  of  Eutyches,  and  the  Alexandrian 
doctrine,  and  an  act  of  deposition  against  Flavian. 
From  its  violence  that  council  w'as  branded  as  the  Rob- 
ber synod;  but  it  was  sustained  by  the  emperor,  Theo- 
dosius  II.  Next  year  Theodosius  died.  The  new 
emperor,  JMarcian,  took  the  other  side,  and  strongly  dis- 
approved of  the  conduct  and  doctriries  of  Dioscorus.  A 
new  general  council  was  called,  to  meet  at  Chalcedon  in 
451.     It  is  counted  the  fourth. 

Dioscorus  was  deposed,  Eutyches  v^'as  condemned, 
Nestoriani^m  was  also  rejected,  Leo's  letter  to  Flavian 
was  approved,  wdiile  the  council  gave  their  own  statement 
of  the  doctrine  of  '-One  Christ  in  two  natures,  the  two  ir^^-^ 
natures  united,  without  confusion,  without  conversion, 
inseparably  and  j>erpetua!ly."' 

The  council  also  recognized  the  existing  Metropolitan 
and  Patriarclial  ranks  of  bishops,  and  sanctioned  the  lat- 
ter as  a  higher  rank,  and  as  endued  with  higher  powers 
of  jurisdiction.  At  that  date  the  Patriarchs  were  tive  ; 
those  of  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem.  Reference  is  also  made,  in  the  canons  of  tlie 
council,  to  the  Patriarciis  of  the  two  iuiperial  cppitals  as 
entitled  to  higher  hoiuu"  than  the  rest.  The  great  church 
of  Carthage  was  now  humbled  to  the  earth  by  the  con- 
quest of  the  Vandals. 

Both  forms  of  the  creed  of  Nice  and  of  Constantino- 
ple were  confirmed;  as  that  of  the  318  fathers  of  Nice, 


74 

and  of  the  150  fathers  of  Constanthiople,  and  I^estorian 
and  other  variant  doctrines,  which  had  arisen  in  the 
interval,  were  condemned  by  re-statement  of  doctrines 
professed,  or  implied  in  tliose  symbols. 

That  council  also  contirmed  certain  canons  of  five 
provincial  councils,  namely  of  Ancyra  815,  of  Neo- 
Ctcsarea  in  Pontus,  315  or  316,  of  Gangra,  between  325 
and  341,  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  341,  ;ind  ol  Laodicea, 
somewhere  about  365. 

Recapitulation  of  controversies. 

The  Person  of  (.'hrist  is  the  first  and  cardinal  [)oint 
of  christian  doctrine.      The  principal   controversies  con- 
cerning it  are 
C      1.    Witli    Judaism,     establishing    the     sufficiencw     of 
4  Christ  in  himself  as  the  savioi",  and  his  true  Godhead. 
^       2.    With  Docetae,  in  defence  of  his  true  humanity. 

3.  Of  his  divine  nature  as  related  to  God  the  Father, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  well  as  to  the  whele  system  of 
the  univei-se  ;  discussed  in  the  theories  of  Gnosticism 
arid  the  debates  concerning  Montanns;  and  the  subse- 
quent system  of  the  Manichees. 

4.  With  theories  of  Momirchianism — Ilunuinitarinn, 
Pat ri [la ssia n ,  Sa l)el  1  ia 1 1 . 

5.  With  those  which  sprang  out  of  the  the  theology 
of  Origen,  especially  that  of  Arius. 

6.  With  tlie  Scmi-Arians. 

7.  With  the  Apollinarian  doctrine  on  one  side  and 
the  Nestorian  on  the  other;  touching  the  relations  of  the 
divine  to  tlie  human  in  Christ. 

8.  And  with  that  of  Fji^yches  and  Dioscorus.  Ques- 
tions of  anthropological  doctrine  were  brought  out 
cliiefly  as  related  to  the  prime  question  of  Christ,  but 
also  in  treating  i)oints  of  discipline,  controversies  on  the 
subject  of  the  lapsed,  on  the  schisms  of  N"ovatian,  Felicis- 
simua,  Donatns,  until  tiie  rise  of  Pelagianism. 

9.  The  rejection  of  Pelagianism  left  behind  the  more 
wides[)rcad  and  endui'ing  heresy  of  Scnii-pelagianism. 

So  far,  christian  controversies  were  marked  by  fea- 
tures of  ancient  classical  thinking,  even  when  dealing 
with  oriental  speculation;  from  the  council  of  Nice  to 
that  of  Chalcedon    is   the  golden  age  of  Patristic  litera- 


75 


tnro.     Those  which  followed,  for  several   hundred  years, 
were  in  the  spirit  of  tlie  inedijievaL 

Christian  sacraments  and  ori,«'inally  simple  (mstoms 
were  now  surrounded  with  a  parade  of  ceremonial  forms, 
pictures  were  introduced  into  the  churches,  not  as 
ol)jects  of  worship,  hut  as  helps  to  pioty,  and  some  things 
were  retained  from  the  old  state  reliirion,  and  as  con- 
verted to  ('hristian  meaning  ot  the  plea  that  peoi)le 
accustomed  to  see  them,  woald  tliereby  be  attracted  to 
come  to  cliurch.  rrcaching,  in  the  fifth  century,  had 
also  assimilated  in  some  respects  to  the  character  of 
.secular  harangues,  and  in  some  of  the  city  churches,  at 
least,  it  was  not  unusual  for  the  congregations  to  give 
noisy  demonstration  (^f  their  disapproval  or  applause. 
The  memory  of  martyrs  had  come  to  receive  such  a 
degree  of  veneration  that  [)reacliers  would  a])peal  to 
them  in  their  sermons,  and  invoke  their  intercession  with 
God.  Their  relics  were  collected  and  deposited  in 
churches.  The  Virgin  Mary  received  peculiar  rever- 
ence ;  iuid  the  cross,  all  along  hoiiored  as  a  symbol, 
had  now  become  an  object  of  idolatrous  veneration. 
That  feeling  was  intensified  after  irelena,  the  mother  of 
Constantine,  liad  discovered,  as  she  thouu'ht,  the  true 
cross,  on  wliich  tlie  Savior  died.  In  the  fifth  century  the 
crucifix,  that  is,  tlie  cross  with  a  figure  representing  the 
8avionr  suspended  upon  it,  began  to  be  used. 

It  was  also  during   this  [)eriod  that  the  clergy  began 
to  wear  a  peculiar  costume,  while  engaged  in  divine  ser-' 
vice;   and  after  heathen  fasliion  in  some  of  the  ciinrches 
artificial  lights  were  used  in  the   day  time.      IJnrning  of 
incense  was  also  introduced. 

Singing  in  responses  was  first  practiced  at  Antioch, 
spread  to  other  places  in  the  east,  and  was  ti-ansferi-ed  to 
the  west  by  Ambrose. 

Festival  days  increased  in  number,  and  some  formerly 
of  ordy  local  observance,  l)ecame  general,  or  were 
appointed  to  be  held  with  moi-e-  regularity.     In  the  west 

the  25  of  December  was  app(nnted  l)y  Julius  l)ishop  of /-v/—  |j---  ^  ,  .-. 
Rome  between  ^37  and  852,  to  be  observed  as  tlie  birth-  y^^£^j_j^c-4£3'1^ 
day  of  the  Lord.  From  Rome  the  pi-actice  extended  to  7~Zj-^Lt  f.f^-i^i 
different  provinces,   to  Antioch   about  3^6^  and  to  Alex-  .^^   ^^^fii^jSlX^  ^^^ 


h-*^ 


Mo^  hiicJi^cM^ 


hoc    cr-c^^^^Tr:;c  ^H     ^Z- ^^-<o  (^>^- . 


Cl  b-vpC^v^     ^ 


76 
aiiflria  about   430.     Heathen   literature  and  science  had 


t7Zfcfc«-<3    (9?t<.v~  /?i«^  still  their  devotees.     At  Athens  and  Alexandria  the  poly 

itill  ill  existence. 
y  the  schools  of  the 


.  /    ^    ru    I  ::r:z^)  theistic  schools  of  philosophy  were  still  in  existence. 
r '  ^  C^/'^^3/        ^^  ti^,  „^i,|,ll,  if  tl^,  tift^centur. 


church  had  beg'un  to  decline,  with  the  interest  in  educa- 
-^.y-_    tion     which     maintained     tliem,      Alonks    had     already 

/un/«^   _p^'"-^ '' '^'"Increased  enormously,  and  their  extravagances  and    bar- 

_^    ftrru^'^,  ^'^  *'^'barism    had   become  the  disgrace  of  the  chrif^tian  name. 
y-txAJi^   Ay^w  '^'V^'-The  emperor  Valens  attempted  to  restrain  their  increase 

^.^-iJAtrO^^  by  authority,  but  without  eifect.     Some  of  them  were 

men  of  learning,  but  as  a  general  thing  they  were  ignor- 
ant, despised  learning,  and  wielded  a  powerfid  infiuence 
against  it.  To  tliem,  more  than  to  Goth  and  Vandal, 
was  the  degeneracy  of  public  intelligence  due.  The 
stop[»age  of  education  bears  its  fruit  not  immediately,  but 
needs  for  it  only  one  generation. 

As  early  as  the  second  century  tales  had  been  fabri- 
cated of  the  Savior  and  of  his  apostles,  and  heathen 
prophecies  of  Him  and  his  work,  either  fabricated  or  in- 
terpolated, as  in  the  case  of  the  apocryphal  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  the  Siblylinc  oracles.  The  most 
^^  remarkable  of  such  productions  were  the  books  called  the 

r  Jv.])   \^h.  -  I  I"-  Clementines.     They  consist  of  two  e[)istles  addressed  to 
the  apostle  James  at  Jerusalem,  and  twenty  homilies  pro- 

3>t-c.>^ /i,i.^c^i<ct>'. 'L  fessing   to    be   the   doctrinal   and  jtolomical  discourses  of 


_/=;,(^  ,, the  apostle  Peter,     Clement  l)ishop  ot  Rome  appears  as  yvJ    >, 
^''^P*^  "•'  the  autlioi-.      They  are  thou£:ht  to  have  been  composed  at/     '!w, 


■^  '  '  '^'     y  are  thoufi^lit  to  nave  neen  composed  at'"  '  w, 

'*^;  -    ,  ,    liome  about  the  end  of  the  second  century.     Of  these  ■ 


^  ,      .  S-n- 


ilAJU 


ip'^      [homilies  tliere  is  an  epitome  also  in    Gireek.     There   are  (^{^ 
,''"''  other  writings   of  the   same   kind    ascribed    to   Clement, 
Especially  the  Recognitions,  which  vve   liave  in   a  Latin 


> 


1. .,  translation,    made    by    Rutin  us  who    died    in    410,   as  a 

connected  narrative  m  ten  books.  Among  the  manu- 
scripts found  in  the  desert  of  Nitria,  which  are  now 
in  the  British  Museum  there  is  an  unprintcd  Syrian 
translation  of  the  Clementines,  wliich  is  said  to  differ 
greatly  from  both  the  Greek  and  Latin.  The  subject 
seems  to  l)ave  been  a  theme  of  I'eligious  romance  upon 
which  successive  WM'iters  felt  free  to  compose  variations. 
To    the    same    period    wdth    the    translations    of  the 

^         ^  /    Recognitions  are  tlie  Apostolic  Constitutions  i)rol)ablv  to 

/j^  ^     CJi-  h. 


t  < 


be  reforred.  That  collection  of  ecclesiastical  iMiles  is  put 
forth  as  the  work  of  the  a[)0stles,  collectively,  who  also 
speak  ill  their  own  iiarnes  seiiarately  <>f  what  they  were 
taught  by  the  Lord.  It  is  found  in  use  at  the  end  of  the 
iifth  century,  and  no  mention  ot  it  occurs  earlier  than 
the  end  of  the  fourth.  By  gioss  anachronisms  much  of 
it  is  convicted  oi"  forgery.  The  Apostolic  canons,  a 
smaller  collection  of  similar  kind,  came  also  into  use 
towards  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  is  obnoxious  to 
the  same  charge. 

Many  of  the  evils  of  the  time  were  due  to  the  liaste 
witli  which  multitudes  of  half  converted  heathen  were 
received  into  cliristian  communion  Ujion  simple  jtrofes- 
sion,  made  in  many  cases  only  because  their  kings  had 
been  converted.  After  the  full  establishment  of  Christ- 
ianity as  the  state  religion,  and  the  profession  of  heatlieii- 
ism  was  made  unlawful,  it  came  t(<  be  tlie  practice  of  the 
church  to  comjireliend  all  tlie  populatioii  of  the  empire 
as  in  some  shajie  or  other  its  proper  cliarge.  The  strict 
rules  ot  the  early  christians  touching  admission  to  tlieir 
communion  were  thus  done  away,  or  rendered  inopera- 
tive. It  was  a  stu[)en(U)us  elibrt,  for  which  the  early 
church  was  called  upon, — the  regeneration  of  a  world 
lying  in  iniquity,  such  deep  and  almost  liopeless  iniquity. 
It  is  not  strange  that  the  human  agency  was  sometimes 
at  fault,  that  mistakes  were  made,  and  that  some  ot  the 
overflowing  corruption  invaded  her  own  bounds.  The 
subject  of  wonder  is  that  the  good  was  n()t  entirely 
swamped  in  the  billows  of  evil  raging  on  every  side. 
Among  the  christian  writings  of  that  time  copious  evi- 
dence is  found  of  warm  scri])tural  piet}',  and  most  of  tlie 
acts  of  councils  testily  to  the  same  purport,  as  well  as 
the  lives  of  many  devoted  men  and  women. 

III.      451—607. 

Another  section  of  Church  History  i:?  very  (hstinetly 
marked  !)y  important  clianges  between  the  council  of 
Chalcedon  and  the  death  of  Boniface  III.  bishop  of 
Rome,  that  is  from  451  to  607.  It  is  tlie  period  of  rivalry 
for  dominion  in  the  church  between  the  Patriarchs  of 
Constantinople  and  of  Rome.     At  the  conneil  of  Chalce- 


78 

don  they  had  been  recognized  .'is  entitled  to  higlier  lionor  -i<  f^(-<^  ""'-i:^ 
than  the  rest.  From  tliat  date  it  became  an  object  of 
ambition  with  botli  to  secure  each  for  Ids  own  see  tlie 
honor  of  sole  superiority.  The  lioman  Patriarch  had 
the  advantage  in  tliat  his  capital  was  possessed  of  the 
older  prestige  and  associations.  On  the  other  liad,  dur- 
ing most  of  the  period  Constantinople  was  the  sole  capital 
of  all  the  dominion  that  remained  to  the  empire.  But 
the  east  was  divided  among  four  J^ati-iarchs  ;  in  the  west 
there  was  only  one.  The  Roman  Patriarch  had  no 
F'atriarchs  in  the  west  to  look  to  him  as  superior.  The 
/^  /^rti.  Patriarch  at  Constantinople  was  recognized  as  higher  in 
■—fr-  honor  than  the  tliree  other  Patriarchates  of  the   east;  it 

was  not  unnatural  that  lie  should  wish  to  add  the  Patri- 
"Y  ^''^     ai'cli  at  Rome  to  the  list.     One  sovereign,  or  universal 
raAi'c^' c (     bisliop,  with  four  Patriarchates  was  neeeded  to  complete 
>\4  Tcu^^'^^i'     the  system  of  church  government  after  the  model  of  the 
//uT^fS^- Estate.      The   eastern  domain    of  chi'istianity    was   by   far 
./SfJ/"-  -  t^'®  most  extensive,  and  populous.     But  the  Roman  Patri- 
"^    .  '    arch  had  already  learned   to  add  some  of  the  duties  of  a 

^  /^.T'  y      civil  ruler  to  his  ecclesiastical  functions.     Rome  was  still 
'  '  ^^^    '^'  the  imperial  city  in  the  eyes  of  western  nations,  and  the 
claim  of  apostolic  descent  had  more  weight  in  that  quar 
ter  than  in  the  east,  wliere  all  the  [)rincipal  churches  lield 
to  it.     Notwithstanding  the  difliculries  in  his  way,,  it  was 
the  Patriarch  at  Constantinople  wlio  succeeded  in  having 
liis  rank  of  uni\'ers;il  bishop  tii'st  recognized  by  imperial 
S'citi'  T^c^    authority.      lyjiiiLe  then  condemned  the  iniquity  of  episco- 
/rn  r/f /c.7<<^\  liiil  ambition, 

-?  6l/^v    ^  ^'^>      The  cruelty  of  the   usurping  emperor   Phocas  alien- 

t/e-/-»-i'?  ^ '^^'"'ated    f)-om   him    all   good   men    in    Constantinople.     He 

J  fUT'e^^ '-'■'-"   received  approval  from  Gregory  I,,  bishop  of  Rome,  and 

from  Bonifa(!e  who  was  afterwards  raised  to  that  diginty. 

,  /Boniface  solicited  and  obtained  from  Phocas  the  transfer 

1^  rU'tii'       "^^  ^^^^   ^'^'^   '^^  univeral   to  the  see  of  Rome.     Boniface 

^        '^  III.  became  Pope  in  607,  and  died  before  the  end  of  that 

'       f         ^  'J'ear.     Eastern  prelates  did  not  admit  the  validity  of  that 

'' '^/V''<^<*C'-^  of  a  usiirpiij;;  .and  the  alienation   between    the  two 

'  ^  ' /'    ,£  /t^f^-i^S^^'^^'  Patriarchs  became  wider  than  before. 

'^  \^/^„.  t .' ^<i  f^/      ^^^    *^''^    state,  the    period    thus   defined  was  no  less 

"JJ^/  ^  A    momentous.     After   their  defeat   at  Chalons  in  451,  the 


/iC' 


/  c.^  (71  a  no:!]  (x^  ^^^ 


{  r^f  (  i^'t/ 04^U  ^  /^ 


79 

Huns   fell   buck   upon  Italy,  and  the  last  reninaut  of  tlie 

western    empire  was  spared    for  a  few  years  only  by  the  r 

death  of  Attila.      In  455,  the  Vandals  crossed  over  from    t'x'-'^  ^ta^jStt<e, 

Africa  to  Italy,  took  Rome  and  plundered  it.     ITiitil  472 

the  holders  of  nominal  empire  in   that  quarter  were   set 

iij>  by  German   leaders.     Finally  in   476,  Odoacer,  kinjr 

of  the    FTernlians,  and   leader   of  the   German    troops  in 

Roman  i)ay,  assumed  the  sovereiiifnty  himself  under  the , 

title  of  Kin <>:  of  Italy.     In  492,  Odoacer  was  overthrown,  ^ J^^^y <rfn  t  z. . 

and   the  Gothic  kingdom  of  Italy  set  up  by  Theodoric.      i^'tc ,:J  s-%>k>. 

That   kingdom  was   extinguished    by    the   forces  of  the 

eastern  empire  under  command  of  Belisarius  in  539,  and 

afterward?  of  Nart*es.     Italy  thereby  became  a  Byzantine 

province,    until    the  invasion    of  the  Lombards  in   568, 

when    it   was  divided   between    them    atid    the    eastern 

empire  :  the  capital  of  the  former  being  Pavia,  and  the 

seat   of  the  Greek  exarch,  Ravenna.      Rome  had  ceased 

to  be  of  any  general  political  importance. 

In  Gaul  tlie  Franks  secured  supreme  dominion.  The 
Visigoths,  whom  they  drove  out  of  the  south  of  that 
country  in  507  had  before  that  date  subdued  the  Suevi, 
and  set  up  the  Gothic  kingdom  of  Spain.  The  Saxons 
in  Britain  had  established  their  dominion  over  all  the 
best  of  England,  and  driven  the  Romanized  Britons  to 
tlie  north  and  extreme  west. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Vandals  in  Africa   and  Sicily     ^-^^ 
were     reduced    by    the    ai-ms    of    Belisarius    and    tiiose  "         ^ 

countries  annexed  to  the  eastern  empire.  kca^^6^'^J  f^^^ 

In   Constantinople,  the  imperial   authority  after  ^4  f  /} 

passed  through  a  succession  of  feeble  hands,  until  Justin-  /^ikjahri  (^ 
ian  who,  from  527  to  565,  by  the  wisdom  of  his  legal  ^  /a^J)  7h 
digests,  and  the  success  of  his  arms,  went  far  towards -^"^  >)Ta«rv' /i^ 
a  "restoration  of  the  imperial  dignity.  His  successors  '^^^\  ^^ I'^ha^- 
until  602  were  good  men,  but  did  not  maintain  the  same  q-Cm^ ,  fU^^^^ 
course  of  prosperity.  Mauritius,  in  602,  was  murdered  •  ■  yXi'^(-CCJ.-^-'- 
with     his  family,    by    the   centurion   Phocas,  who    in    a  z  -'0^ju4  j/i'- 

mutiny  of  the  soldiers  had  usurped  the  throne.  (U^CjC^". 

From  Apostolic  times  the  church  needed,  and  pos- 
sessed certain  rules  whereby  those  who  joined  her  com- 
munion were  to  regulate  their  conduct.  The  wisdom  of 
the  earlv  fathers  inCreased  the  number.     To  these  were 


^■ff^    nia^rr.^,i)y    /^eZ/J^r-C^C^^/^^^     L^^U^Ji, 


80 

added  the  decisions  of  councils.  Collections  were  sub- 
sequently made  of  such.  In  the  fifth  century  we  iind 
mention  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  and  the  Apos- 
tolical canons.  In  the  sixth  century,  appeared  the  col- 
-f-^ti^  lection  of  Dionysius  Exiguu's,  in  tlie  west,  and  of  Johan-  -Sht^.fj^ 
nes  Scholasticus,  in  the  east,  laying  the  foundations  upon 
wdiich  afterwards  arose  the  structure  of  tlie  canon  law. 
""  ■      '  'p  '    •  In  the  histoi-y  of  theology  the  princii»al  feature  of  the 

dr-^^  t^^f-^^ '  time  was  the  prolonged  Monophysite  controvert}'.     The 

^-e^-ifiz^-dt.  council  of  Chalcedon,  after  deposing  Dioscorus  from  the 

Patriarchate  of  Alexandria,  appointed   Proterius  in  his 
room.     But  a  large  party  in  Egypt  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge  the   new  bishop,  or  the   doctrine   of  the  council. 
They  denied  the  existence  of  two  natures  in  Chiist,  or 
rather,  held  that  the  two  natures,  human  and  divine,  are 
so   united  as  to  constitute  but  one  nature,  yet  without 
conversion  of  one  into  the  othei-  and  without  confusion 
of  botli.     Various  names  were  given  thenj,  but  the  most 
common  was  that  expressive  of  their  doctrine  of  oneness 
of  nature  in    the   Savior,  Mo\yO(bua1rat,  while  they  called 
their  opponents  Juo^oa'cTo.c,  ov  Jcfoaha.c.     The   lieadquar- 
ters  of  the  controvers}-  were  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  the 
two  great  theological  schools  of  the   east.     Both   jiarties 
■C^-  Q^j^—^4t^u-,  carried  violence  to  an  extreme,  disgraceful  to  their  clirist- 
^n^r       -ian    profession.     Emperors  several    times  step[>ed   into 
'■       '^     '  ■    iiiiay  the  ferment,  but  witli    little  success.     Zeno  Isauri- 
iC:~tfi^.<i  gjjg^  1,1  ^2,  issued  a  creed   called   the   Ilenoticon,  which 

he  thought  both  parties  might  agree  upon.  Instead  of 
effecting  union,  it  raised  a  new  subject  of  dispute.  The 
bishop  of  Rome,  and  the  western  chu relies  in  general 
took  part  in  opposition  to  the  Monophysites.  Justinian 
defended  the  council  of  Clialcedon,  but  endeavored  to 
restore  unity  and  peace.  The  empress,  Tlieodora,  favored 
the  Monophysites,  and  also  professed  to  labor  for  con- 
ciliation. Neither  of  them  had  much  success.  After 
several  fruitless  attempts,  the  emperor  called  a  general 
council  to  meet  at  Constantinople  in  553.  That  council 
condemned  Monophysite  doctrine  as  heresy.  In  that 
action  Pelagius  I.  of  Rome  coincided,  but  thereby  created 
a  tedious  schism  in  the  west.  In  the  east  the  result  was 
a  final  secession  of  a  great  number  of  churches  covering 


a  belt  of  country  from  tlie  northern  borders  of  Armenia, 
through  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Palestine  and  Egypt,  soutli- 
ward  to  the  southern  extremities  of  Ethiopia.  It  did 
much  to  reduce  the  imi>ortance  of  botli  Alexan(b'ia  and 
Antiocli,  as  schools  of  theology,  a  loss,  which  they  never 
retrieved. 

The  disgraceful  scenes,  which  occurred  in  the  course 
of  this  controversy,  were  chietly  due  to  the  part  taken  in 
it  by  monks,  who  now  swarmed  in  all  oriental  Christen- 
dom in  such  numbers  as  seriously  to  diminish  tlie  ranks 
of  industry.  If  merely  to  be  in  earnest  were  true  godli- 
ness, the  highest  merit  could  not  be  denied  to  most  of 
them  ;  but  so  to  judge  would  be  to  transform  Christianity 
into  fanaticism.  Some  of  their  extravagances  would  be 
incredible,  were  they  not  testified  to  by  eye  witnesses. 
Such  were  the  stylite  saints,  one  of  whom  called  Simeon 
died  in  459,  after  having  lived  37  years  on  tlie  top  of  a 
pillar.  In  the  west  such  wild  extremes  of  asceticism 
never  met  with  mucli  fovor.  For  that,  something  was 
due  to  Benedict  of  Nursia,  who  in  the  year  5:^9,  founded 
a  monastery  on  Mount  Casinus  in  Italy,  with  a  greatly 
improved  system  of  rules.  That  system  distributed  the 
time  of  the  rnonks,  in  a  strict  and  sensible  way,  between 
devotion,  study  and  manual  labor  :  and  for  several  gene- 
rations its  working  was  enforced  with  more  than  military 
severity.  The  rule  of  Benedict  was  the  true  foundation 
of  western  monasticism,  as  distinguished  from  the  eastern. 

And  yet  we  must  not  include  all  the  ascetics  of  the 
east  under  one  indiscriminate  censure.  Among  them 
are  to  be  found  cases,  like  that  <^f  Isidore  of  Pelusium. 
marked  by  true  scriptural  faith  and  warm  love  to  the 
Savior,  a  real  hungering  and  thirsting  after  i-ighteous- 
ness. 

In  534  and  535  the  arms  of  Belisarius  overthrow  the 
Arian  Vandals  in  Africa  and  Sicily,  and  gave  freedom  to 
the  Orthodox.  A  similar  service  was  done  for  Italy  in 
the  defeat  of  the  Gothic  Kingdom  there. 

In  496  Clovis  King  of  the  Franks,  induced  by  the 
entreaties  of  his  queen,  a  Burgundian  princess,  and  cer- 
tain circumstances  of  his  life,  assumed  the  profession  of 
Christianity.     A  great  number  of  his  people  followed  his 


82 

example  inimecliately.  His  sister  and  three  thousand  of 
his  army  were  baptized  on  tlie  same  occasion,  and  came 
into  the  church  profesbing  the  orthodox  faitl?.  In  596, 
a  mission  from  Rome,  sent  out  by  Gregory  1.,  to  the 
Anglo-Saxons  in  England,  planted  itself  in  Kent,  where 
it  met  with  favor  from  king  Ethelbert,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Ins  wife,  who  was  a  Fraidv. 

In  receiving  the  title  universal,  the  bisliop  of  Rome 
enjoyed  the  imperial  gift  of  the  highest  lionor  as  a  min- 
ister of  religioji.  It  was  an  empty  honor.  Because  the 
Byzantine  Patriarch  never  withdrew  his  pretension,  and 
theeastern  churchneveradmittedthatofRome;  butitwas  a 
ground  whereon  ever}'  effort  to  reach  a  real  ecclesiastical 
monarcliy  could  bejustitied.  To  tliat  rank  the  Roman 
hierarch  had  risen  by  several  successive  steps.  First, 
that  in  which  he  was  pastor  of  one  congregation  ;  second, 
^Vr?^VT<'U   /^<y-that  in  which  he  was  the  presiding  otMcer  of  several  con- 

.^, *^att^^  gregations  ministered  to  by  pi'esbyters ;  third,  in  the  ,  r' 
process  of  church  extension,  and  annexation  of  mission^ 
and  other  congregations  in  neighboring  towns,  whose 
ministers  were  bishops,  he  became  tlie  chief  bishojt  over 
some  other  bishops,  their  Primus  ;  fourth,  imder  the  con- 
stitution of  Constantine,  he  received  the  importance 
assigned  to  bishops  in  the  chief  cities  of  Prefectures,  be- 
coming thereby  one  of  the  four  great  metropolitans;  fifth, 
when  their  rank,  with  that  of  the  bishop,  of  Jerusalem, 
was  recognized  under  the  title  of  patriarch,  as  superior 
to  that  of  the  exarchs  of  dioceses,  at  the  Council  of  Chal- 
cedon,  the  patriarchs  of  Rome  and  of  Constantinople 
were  assigned  a  higher  honor  than  the  other  patriarchs  ; 
/    ^  and  sixth,  when  both  these  dignitaries  aimed  at  being 

sovereign,  the  title  of  that  rank  first  conferred  by  impe- 
rial favor  upon  the  Byzantine  Patriarch,  vras  subsequently 
bj  the  same  authority  transferred  to  the  Roman.  That 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  latter  subsequently  increased,  and 
that  of  the  former  diminished,  was  due  to  other  than 
ecclesiastical  causes.  That  growth  was  a  natural  devel- 
opment. ISTo  stage  of  it,  except  the  last,  was  a  precon- 
.  certed  imposition  upon  the  church,  although  unjustifiable 
means  were  sometimes  used  to  sustain  them  all  when  once 
reached    They  successively  grew  naturally  out  of  original 


83 

mistakes,  in  adopting  certain  principles  from  the  muni- 
cipal idea  in  the  heart  of  the  civil  government ;  especially 
the  method  of  church  extension,  and  in  admitting  of  only 
one  hishop  in  one  city. 

During  the  frequent  invasions  (^f  Italy  in  the  iifth  and 
sixth  centuries  and  the  separation   of  Home  from   other 
dominions  of  the  empire,  the  bishop  of  that  city  had  often 
to  take  upon  himself  the   execution   of  civil  duties,  not 
from  ambition,  but  from  the  necessities  of  the  case.    Tlis 
office  thereby  became,  in  course  of  time,  associated  with 
civil  authority,  althougli  only  incidentally.     The  preten- 
sion that  it  has  always  been  from  the  days  of  the  apostles 
what  it  is  now ;  or  rather  what  it  was  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  is  clearly  and  positively  contradicted  by  history. 
In  the  course"^of  the  fifth  century  we  enter  u|)on  the 
period    of  time  commonly  called  the  middle  ages.     Its 
true  limits  are  on  one  side,  the  extinction  of  the  western 
empire,  in  476.,  and  on  the  other,  the  taking  of  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Turks,  in  1453.     That  is,  politically  con- 
sidered, the  middle  ages  are  those  which  intervened  be- 
tween the  termination  of  the  western  empire  and  that  of 
the  eastern.     During  all  that  time  there  is  an  emperor  in 
the  east;    but  during  most  of.it,  none  in  the  west;    andj^^^^;?^^  t 
only  for  brief  periods,  one  whose  authority  extended  over  /    ^^^_^i-  /.' 
Rome.     The  bishops  accordingly,  who  would  otherwise  '"J-     ^^, 
have  been  second,  became  first  in   goverment  from  that      ,  ^^^    .    ,  ^i 
city:  while  at  Constantinople,  the  bishop  continued  to  be  ^^     ^  ^^  '     ^ 
a  subject  of  the  emperor.     Still,  the  superiority  of  the  • ''-  ^ 
popes  over  tlie  civil  rulers  in  the  west  was  never  admitted 
by  the  latter,  when  strong  enough  to  resist  it. 

In  taking  a  general  vi'ew  of  the  middle  ages,  we  shall  ^   ..- 

find  first  a  process  of  dissolution,  extending  to   all  the   -^' 
structure  of  civilization ;  secondly,  a  process  of  settlement 
of  new  peoples,  and  by  new  methods  ;  and  thirdly,  a  pro- 
cess of  growth,  in  a  new  style  of  culture. 

The  middle  ages  are"  not  all  equally  dark  ages. 
Gloomiest,  I  think,  are  the  latter  years  of  the  fifth  century, 
the  sixth,  the  seventh,  most  of  the  eighth,  the  whole  of 
the  tenth  and  first  half  of  the  eleventh. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  the  popu- 
larity of  christian  profession  was  at  its  highest.    Jleath- 

J/tj  .l(  /If  f,  U  j^    ^^Ya  I  — .     /  /  .ly 


84 

enism  had  long  ago  become  utterly  unfashionable,  within 
the  bounds  of  what  had  once  been  the  empire;  and  was 
fast  melting  avi-ay  before  the  outward  progress  of  at  least 
nominal  Christianity,  in  ail  directions.  We  may  con- 
template the  church,  at  that  date,  as  consisting  of  three 
grand  divisions  ;  first,  the  Latin  Church,  comprehending 

-/5l'  all  the  southwest  of  Europe,  and  north  of  Africa  ;  second, 

the  Greek  church;  and  third,  the  oriental  cliurches,  con- 
sisting of  the  two  great  divisions  of  Alonophysite,  and 
NestoVian,  extending  over  all  north'  eastern  Africa,  and 
western  Asia,  and  as  fiir  east  as  India  and  China.  Never 

/    /?^,  ^'J//.,^^-j,  perhaps  did  the  pride  of  power,  of  pervasive   and    all- 

-•    absorbing  popularity  so  fill  the  mind  of  the  church.    That 

success  liad  not  been   attained    without  earnestness  and 

<-'*''  truth  of  faith,  but  unhappily  also  with  the  introduction 

'^  of  many  an  error  through  tlie  haste  to  be  great,  and  to 

have  nations  born  in  a  day. 

IV.     607—752. 

The  period  intervening  between  the  death  of  Boni- 
face III.,  and  the  accession  of  Stephen  II.,  that  is,  from  607 
until  752,  includes  another  stage  in  the  development  of 
Papalism.  The  former  date  is  that  of  the  death  of  the 
first  bishop  of  Rome,  who  enjoyed  the  title  of  universal, 
the  latter  is  that  of  the  accession  of  the  first  who  took 
his  place  as  a  temporal  prince.  Moreover  it  was  a  time 
of  great  adversity  to  the  cliurch.  Both  of  the  chief 
patriarchs  sutfered  diminution  of  jurisdiction,  but  the  cas- 
ern most. 

Khosru  king  of  Persia,  who  had  been  restored  to  his 
throne  by  the  aid  of  the  emperor  Mauritius,  now  prepared 
to  take  vengeance  upon  Pliocas  for  the  death  of  his  ben- 
efactor. But  ere  his  army  could  reach  Constantinople, 
Ileraclius  exarch  of  Africa,  in  610,  had  seized  the  gov- 
ernment and  put  Phocas  to  death.  Khosru  continued  his 
march  until  he  reached  the  Bosphorus,  and  retained  for 
twelve  years  his  hold  upon  Asia  Minor.  Ileraclius  finally, 
by  an  invasion  of  Persia  compelled  him  to  return.  By 
so  long  a  war  both  Persia  and  the  empire  were  weakened. 

Meanwhile,  about  611,  Mohammed  began  to  teach 
his  doctrines  in  Mecca.     His  object  was  to  overthrow 


85 

idolatry,  and  restore  tlie  worslii))  of  the  one  nnseen  God 
of  his  fatlier  Abraham.  Tlie  diflercnt  [jortions  of  his 
system  were  announced  from  time  to  time,  as  occasion 
called  them  forth  :  and  combined  in  one  book  after  his 
death. 

Mohammed  did  not  receive  Christ  as  the  eternal  son 
of  God  ;  but  as  a  divine  teaclier,  and  the  <i;re:itest  of  the 
])roi)hets;  and  as  miraculously  born  of  the  Viri!;in  Mai-v. 
lie  also  believed  in  Christ's  divinely  appointed  death, 
resurrection  and  ascension,  and  taui^ht  that  all  should 
believe  in  iiini  as  the  ajiostle  of  God;  but  not  to  accept 
him  as  a  sufHcient  Savioui*. 

It  was  the  deplorable  corruption  of  the  eastern  church, 
not  so  much  in  doctrine,  as  in  life  and  worship,  and  es- 
pecially its  practical  idolatry,  which  lent  the  single,  but 
sublime  tmith  of  Moljammedanism  its  early  power. 

Little  progress,  however,  was  made  by  Mohammed  in 
obtaining  converts  until  lie  was  constrained  by  persecu- 
tion in  Mecca,  to  flee  to  Medina.  This  event,  which 
occurred  on  the  15th  of  July  622,  is  the  starting  point  of 
the  Mohammedan  era.  Fi-om  that  date  his  notoriety 
increased,  and  convei'ts  multiplied,  and  attached  them- 
selves to  his  cause  with  great  enthusiasm.  At  first  he 
used  only  persuasion  ;  latterly  he  received  authority  to 
compel  assent  to  his  doctrines  by  force  of  arms.  lie  died 
in  632,  asserting  that  God  had  given  the  world  to  be 
conquered  for  Islam.  Tliat  very  year  the  arras  of  his 
followers  were  carried  bej'ond  the  bounds  of  Arabia. 

Tlie  successors  of  Mohammed  in  office  were  called 
Ivalifs.  The  first  was  Abubeker.  In  his  reign  of  two 
years  he  reduced  all  the  countries  between  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Mediterranean  sea.  In  636,  the  last  of  the  imperial 
troops  were  driven  out  of  Syria.  Next  year  Jerusalem 
was  taken.  Egypt  was  reduced  in  640,  and  the  greater 
part  of  northern  Africa  in  647.  Persia  in  651.  I3y  that 
date  Mohammedan  conquest  had  extended  to  the  opposite 
extremes  of  Armenia  and  Nubia.  R  took  in  also  Cyprus 
and  Rhodes,  and  advanced  against  Constantinople,  which 
was  saved  bj'  the  use  of  the  Greek  fire.  From  Maurita- 
nia it  passed  into  Spain,  overran  almost  all  the  Peninsula; 
crossed  the  Pvrenees  into  the  heart  of  France  ;  and  met 


86 

its  first  check  in  the  valley  of  the  Loire  in  732,  the  one 
hundredtli  year  after  the  death  of  Mohannned.  They 
were  defeated  bv  tlie  Franks  under  command  of  Charles 
Martel. 

Thus,  within  a  hundred  years,  the  christian  church 
was  overrun,  and  trampled  down  in  Arabia, Persia,  Syria, 
Efjypt,  Northern  Africa,  part  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  Spanish  peninsula.  The  Patriarchate 
of  Constantinople  was  shorn  of  a  large  part  of  its  juris- 
diction ;  that  of  Rome,  if  we  count  in  her  claims  to  north 
Africa,  was  diminished  by  nearly  one  half,  those  of 
Antioch,  Jerusalem  and  Alexandria,  were  entirely  re- 
duced to  dependencies  of  the  Saracen,  and  theNestorian 
churches  of  the  further  east  wore  overwhelmed,  and  for 
centuries,  many  of  them  forever,  disappeared  from  his- 
tory. 

Of  what  remained  under  christian  dominion,  in  Italy, 
the  Greek  exarchate  gradually  broke  down  before  the 
increasing  strength  of  the  Lombards  until  in  752,  it  came 
entirely  into  their  possession.  During  the  period  of  its 
existence  the  capital  had  been  Ravenna  ;  Rome  was  only 
the  head  of  an  inferior  province  of  the  Greek  empire; 
the  bishop  was  the  chief  authority  in  it;  a  serious  dimi- 
nution of  authority,  but  combined  with  circumstances, 
which  ultimately  went  to  enlarge  it.  Christian  Spain 
was  not  crushed  ;  btit  laid  under  domination  of  an  anti- 
christian  power.  In  France,  the  military  chiefs  had  as- 
sumed to  a  great  degree  the  control  of  the  church.  Li 
Northern  Africa  Christianity  was  not  extinguished,  hut  it 
was  prostrated  under  the  Saracenic  rule,  without  hope 
of  relief. 

The  churches  of  the  west  in  view  of  sucli  danir-er  and 
loss,  turned  their  eyes  with  the  m.ore  interest  to  their 
religious  chief  at  the  old  capital.  Rome,  now  feeble,  still 
possessed  a  great  inlieritance  of  prestige,  the  superiority 
of  a  thousand  j^ears,  the  source  of  empire  in  the  west,  of 
religious  observances,  many  of  which  had  come  down  to 
christian,  from  heathen  times.  The  title,  and  rank  of 
sovereign  pontiff,  which  had  been  worn  by  the  heathen 
emperors  as  chiefs  of  the  old  state  religion,  and  also  by 
the  first  christian   emperora,   w^as   now  assumed   by  the 


87 

biftliop  of  l{()iiie.  Still  tlio  cliui'elies  in  Spain,  (ruul  and 
Bi-itain  had  little  connection  witli  that  patriarchal  capital, 
beini]:;  governed  In'  their  own  i'[>iscopal  authoi'iries  in 
relation  to  the  civil  powers  under  which  they  lived. 

The  pope  was  still  a  sul)ject  of  the  eastern  etnperor, 
and  had  to  be  confirmed  in  office  by  him,  and  to  pay  him 
taxes.  And  sometimes  the  iin[»erial  Ijand  fell  heavily 
npon  a  refractory  pope.  Sncli  an  act  was  always  treasnr- 
e(i  up  in  memory  and  handed  down  to  succeeding  Pojies 
for  payment.  And  evory  advantagx'  secured  was  thence 
forward  claimed  as  a  riglit.  Thus,  Pojie  Sergius  rejected 
the  canons  of  the  second  council  in  Trullo  692.  The 
emperor,  Justinian  11,  sent  an  officer  to  ai-rest  him  ;  but 
the  iio[»e  escaped  tlirouirli  an  insurrection  in  Ravenna. 
The  emperor  was  deposed  in  695,  for  reasons  unconnect- 
ed with  the  church,  but  tlie  victory  remained  with  tlie 
Papacy.  Justinian  If.,  after  his  restoration  in  705,  re- 
ceived I^ope  Constantine  in  his  capital,  overloaded  him 
with  extravagant  honors,  and  set  tlie  example,  of  Ivissing 
his  foot.  , 

As  the  weight  of  the  empire  continued  to  diminisli  in 
Italy,  the  popes  began  to  turn  their  eyes  towards  an  alli- 
ance with  the  Frank  leaders.  Gregory  III.  applied  to 
Charles  Martel,  the  hero  of  Poitiers,  for  that  protection 
against  the  Lombards,  which  his  own  monarch  was  una- 
Ide  to  furnish,  Gregory  III.  was  followed  by  Zacharias 
in  741,  in  whose  pontificate  the  policy  of  Gregory  became 
a  necessity.  From  the  utter  failure  of  the  secular  arm 
to  defend  Rome,  the  Pope  was  constrained  to  take  upon 
himself  entirely  that  state  business,  which  his  predeces- 
sors had  long  been  more  or  less  sustaining.  Pepin,  the 
son  of  Charles  Martel  in  751  usurped  the  throne  of 
France,  and  ai)plied  to  the  Pope  for  his  sanction.  It  was 
given,  Pepin  was  anointed  King,  and  the  last  Merovin- 
gian went  into  a  cloister,  Zacharias  died  earJ3'  next  year. 
His  successor  was  Stephen  II.  The  Lombards  were 
making  war  upon  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna.  Before  the 
end  of  the  year  they  had  reduced  it.  They  next  turned 
their  arms  against  Rome.  Stephen  applied  to  the  new 
King  of  France  for  aid.  In  the  name  of  the  empire,  and 
as  defender  of  its  territory,  Pepin  led  his  forces  into  Italy, 


88 

defeated  the  Lombards  and  saved  Rome,  Taking  from 
the  Lombards  wliat  they  liad  recently  conquered  from 
the  emperor,  he  crave  it  to  tlie  pope.  The  districts  con- 
tained in  that  gift  constituted  the  skeleton  of  what  was 
afterwards  embraced  under  tlie  name  of  tlie  States  of  the 
church.  Thus  the  Poi)e  took  his  place  as  a  secular  prince. 
He  had  also  allied  himself  with  a  new  and  powerful 
dynasty  in  the  west,  whose  influence  was  exerted  to  bring 
the  Gallican  cliurch  into  closer  relations  to  Rome.  A 
point  of  authority  was  also  established  in  that  tiie  first 
king  of  the  new  dynasty  had  solicited  papal  sanction, 
and  accepted  anointment  at  the  hands  of  the  Pope. 
The  l*a[)acy  was  put  into  possession  of  great  wealth. 
Allegiance  to  tiie  emperor  was  still  recognized,  but  it 
liad  ceased  to  be  more  llian  nominal. 

During  this  period  the  principal  tlieological  question 
was  that  concerning  the  singleness  or  duality  of  will  in 
Christ. 

When  the  enjperor  Hei-aclius  was  in  Sj'ria,  from  622, 
he  became  ac(paainted  moi-e  intimately  with  tlie  condi- 
tion of  the  Monoplij'sites,  and  was  persuaded  that  the 
principal  obstacle  to  their  returning  into  the  Catholic 
church  might  be  removed,  by  a  statement  of  doctrine 
representing  the  nature  of  Christ  as  two  fold,  but  the  will 
as  one,  Sergius,  patriarch  of  Constantino})le  was  con- 
sulted on  the  sul)ject,  and  expressed  Ids  oj)inion  that  sucli 
a  view  was  not  inconsistent  with  the  creed  of  the  church. 
Several  theologians  of  the  east  coincided  with  Inm. 
Cyrus  patriarch  of  Alexandria  accepted  the  doctrine,  and 
made  some  progress  in  reconciling  the  two  parties  with- 
in Ids  diocese.  Action  to  that  effect  was  taken  by  a 
council  in  Alexandria,  in  633.  But  Sophronius,  a  clearer 
thinking  Palestinian  monk,  happened  to  be  there  at  the 
time,  and  declared  his  opposition.  He  became  patriarch 
of  Jerusalem  next  year,  and  used  his  increased  influence 
to  promote  the  rising  excitement  of  controversy.  Sergius 
of  Constantinople  succeeded  in  enlisting  Honorius,  bishop 
of  Rome,  on  his  side.  Thus  the  Patriarchs  of  Constan- 
tinople, of  Rome  and  of  Alexandria  were  arrayed  on  the 
Monotbelite  side,  against  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 
Sophror.TUS  however  had  the  advantage  of  his  opponents 


89 

in  point  of  logic,  and  his  reuBoiiiiig  soon  convinced  tlio 
greater  number  of  theologians.  But  he  was  silenced  by 
tlie  MohaTTiniedans,  into  whose  hatids  he  and  his  })atri- 
archate  fell  in  637.  He  died  soon  aftei-.  Ne.xt  year,  the 
emperor,  finding  that  instead  ot  harmony,  only  greater 
division  of  opinion  wtis  produced  by  his  doetrine,  issued 
what  he  called  tiie  Ecthesh,  prepared  by  Sergins,  with 
the  hope  of  allaying  the  excitement.  In  that  proclama- 
tion he  stated  the  doctrine  of  one  Christ  in  two  natures, 
and  that  tlie  one  Christ  works  both  \vhat  is  divine  and 
what  is  human  ;  but  urged  that  the  ])hrases  expressive  of 
one  energy  or  of  two  energies,  vvliich  had  been  used  in 
controversy,  should  be  avoided.  Both  parties  were  dis- 
satisfied. Succeeding  bishops  of  Rome  rejected  the 
Ecthesis,  and  in  the  east  ortliodoxy  was  ably  defended  by 
the  monk  Maximus  ;  while  Theodore  bishop  of  Pharan 
in  Arabia  ui)]ield  the  cause  of  tlie  .\[onothelites.  In  648 
the  emperor  Constans  11.  issued  an  edict  called  the 
Typus  (r'j/Toc)  by  whicii  the  Ecthesis  was  revoked,  and 
witliout  taking  the  part  of  either  side,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  restrain  violent  disputes,  and  effect  peace  iii  the 
church.  Of  course  it  did  not  succeed.  Pope  Martin  I. 
called  a  council  in  Rome,  the  first  Lateran,  the  next  year, 
at  which  twenty  canons  were  drawn  up  condemning 
Moiiotlieletism,  thereby  putting  himself  in  opposition  to 
the  imperial  policy.  For  that  he  was  in  653,  arrested, 
deposed,  and  taken  to  Constantinople,  on  charge  of  high 
treason.  He  was  banished,  655,  to  Chersonesus  in  the 
Crimea,  wliere  he  soon  afterwards  died. 

Maximus  met  with  a  similar,  but  severer  fate.  His 
trial  effecting  no  disposition  in  him  to  comply  with  the 
imperial  edict,  he  was  imprisoned  several  years,  then 
publicly  scourged,  his  tongue  cut  out,  and  his  right  hand 
cut  off;  after  which  he  was  banished  to  the  country  of 
Lazians,  wliere  he  died,  in  662. 

As  another  means  of  reconciling  the  long  standing 
dispute,  the  emperor  Constantine  IV.  called  a  general 
council  to  meet  at  Constantinople,  in  680.  It  assembled 
in  a  hall  of  the  palace  called  Trullus,  The  emperor  pre- 
sided. The  doctrine  of  two  wills  was  accepted  as  scrip- 
tural ;   that  is,  that  in  Christ  there  are  two  natures  in  one 


90      . 

person  ;  ea<'h  iiatur.-;  jjossessirig  a  will  of  its  own  ;  and 
the  Monotlielite  doctrine  of  two  natures  in  one  person, 
with  only  one  will,  was  condemned. 

Under  the  emperor  Philippians  Bardanes,  711  —  713, 
the  controversy  was  revived,  in  tlie  east,  but  for  only  a 
short  time.  Monothelites  diminished  in  number,  and 
ultimately  became  limited  to  a  small  dissenting  party 
who  residing  chietly  in  the  region  of  Lebanon,  chose  a 
patriarch  of  Antioch  for  themselves.  Their  remnant 
still  survives  under  the  name  of  Maronites. 

It  was  probably  during  tlie  seventh  century  that  the 
Symbol um  Quicum(pie,  erroneousl}'  called  the  Athana- 
sian  Creed  was  framed,  taking  its  origin  in  Spain.  It  is 
the  third  of  the  old  Catholic  Symbols,  the  Apostles' 
Creed  and  the  Niceno-Constautinopolitan  being  the 
first  and  second. 

In  outward  progress  of  the  churcli  the  most  import- 
ant steps  were  those  of  mission  work  in  the  Britisli  isles. 

Augustine  with  Laui'cntius  and'bther  Benedictine 
monks,  sent  by  Gregory  I.to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  landed 
on  the  coast  of  Kent  in  597.  Their  success  proved  to  be 
great  beyond  expectation.  The  king  of  Kent  soon  pro- 
fessed himself  a  christian,  and  was  followed  by  his  peo- 
ple, ten  thousand  of  wliom  were  baptized  in  one  day. 
Canterbury  was  constituted  an  archbishopric,  and  Augus- 
tine its  first  incumbent,  in  604.  At  the  end  of  five  years, 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  companion  Laurentius  ;  and  the 
work  went  on  prosperously. 

Tlie  latter  years  of  the  sixth  century  and  the  seventh 
were  marked  by  great  missionary  zeal  on  tlie  part  of 
British  christians  of  the  older  connection.  The  church 
in  the  south  of  Scotland  was  early  cut  oft'  from  Rome, 
l)y  the  withdrawal  of  Roman  troops  further  south,  long 
before  they  were  entirely  removed  from  the  island,  sub- 
sequent interposition  of  heathen  Saxons  increased  that 
isolation.  About  the  year  430,  the  gospel  was  carried 
from  the  South  of  Scotland  into  the  north  of  Ireland  by 
Pati'icius.  ()thers  had  preceded  him  yet  sofar  superior  was 
the  success  wliich  attended  the  preaching  of  Patricius, 
that  Ireland  refers  the  planting  of  her  church  entirely  to 
him.  It  was  the  counties  Down  and  Armagh  that  he 
commenced    his   labors,  which   soon    extended  to  all  tlie 

it/..        (act^'^(^(i^T'^i^^  /^^ 


U-U  H 


91 

nortli,  and  thence,  bv  the  hands  of  others  tlic  <;osi)el  was 
carried  to  the  rest  of  tlie  ishitid.  Armagh  was  siihse- 
queiitly  constituted  the  seat  of  primacy  for  Ireland. 

From  about  the  middle  of  tlie  sixth  century,  the  Irish 
clergy  were  distinguished  for  learning  superior  tothe  age 
in  otiier  quarters,  and  for  missionary  zeal.  Their  princi- 
pal school  and  centre  of  operations  was  Bangoi-,  in  the 
county  Down.  About  563,('olMml)a  left  Troland  to  carry 
the  gospel  into  tlie  nortliwest  of  Scotland,  where  it  had 
not  then  been  preached.  He  with  his  companions  was 
favorably  received  by  a  chief  of  the  Hebrides,  who  gave 
him  the  island  of  lona.  There  he  erected  a  church,  and 
a  house  for  himself  and  his  missionaries,  who  from  tliat 
centre  extended  their  excursions  to  various  parts  of  the 
mainland  and  neighboritig  islands.  In  635,  Oswald  king 
of  Northumbria  obtained  a  niissionarv  from  lona  to  l-,  .  u  n.i. 
preach  within  ins  dominions,  and  gave  him  tor  residence 
the  island  of  Lindisfarne.  The  success  of  that  mission 
was  rapid,  and  churches  were  soon  planted  as  far  south 
as  Yorkshire  and  even  in  the  centre  of  England.  At 
the  same  time  the  Romish  missions  from  the  south  were 
rapidly  advancing  northward.  In  the  conflict  of  authori- 
ties which  ensued,  the  power  of  lona  could  not  withstand 
that  from  Rome.  The  churclies  of  the  northern  mission 
were,   before   the   end    of  the   seventh    century   t-cmipre-  V/'i     i 

bended  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  southern.      Lindis-  :  'Jck^^**^^ 

fame  became   a    Romish   monastery,   and    its   episcopal  ■   i6^ ,   "^ 

authority  was  transferred- to   Durham.     York   was   the  ;,,,;,.        -  «. 

seat  of  an  archbishopric;  but  Canterbury  was  honored  ^     i 
with    the    primacy  of  all    England.      Articles  enforcing 
obedience  of  the  churches  in  the  north  of  England  tothe 
Romish  practices  were  proposed  by  Theodore  of  Canter- 
bury in  a  provincial  council  for  the  north  in  674. 

It  was  also  in  the  early  part  of  tlie    seventh  century  y^, ; 

that  Columbanus  and  Gallus  left  Ireland  at  the  head  of    i^t-x^j  ^^   ' 
another  little  group    of  missionaries   to   preach   in  Bur- y^^^,y/,- 
o-undv,  France   and    Switzerland.      Columbanus   died  in    ^  '■  '  "      i' 

615  and  Gallus  in  627.  \-j     ,  ^  ,,,.- 

Y.  752-880.  ^  ^i^  ^''-  ^ 

Leagued  with  the  great  Carolingian  kings  of  France'    /.  A"^'*-  > 
the  Papacy  now  entered   upon   tlie  first  period  of  its  real 


92 

supremacy  in  t.lie  west.  That  period  extends  from  tlie 
T^--^  pontificate  of  Stephen  II.,  until  880,  the  date  of  the  dif- 
ferrence,  which  was  never  reconciled,  between  the  Po])e 
and  the  Patriarch,  and  the  beginning  of  the  medieval  de- 
cline of  the  Papacy.  Another  feature  of  the  time 
was  the  settlement  of  the  new  nations,  the  chief  work  of 
Charlemagne,  wlio  also  forced  upon  liis  heathen  subjects 
tlie  profession  of  Christianity,   by  having  tliem  .baptized. 

It  was  within  tlie  same  period  tliat  tlie  Iconoclast  con- 
troversy i-an  tlie  most  exciting  ])art  of  its  course.  By 
the  beu'inning  of  the  seventh  century  the  worship  of  im- 
ao:es  liad  become  common  thi'oughout  the  church  both 
east  and  west.  Opjiosition  to  it  was  the  strong  point  of 
Mohammedanisiii.  A  few  intelligent  cliristians  also  per- 
ceived its  unchristian  character;  but  the  greater  num- 
ber were  devotedly  attached  to  their  images.  In  726, 
tiie  eniperor,  Leo  Isanricus  issued  an  edict  forbidding  tlie 
practice;  and  in  730  he  ordered  the  images  or  pictures 
to  be  destroyed.  The  o})position  of  Germanus,  patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  was  overcome  by  deposing  him,  and 
setting  up  Anastasius.  Rome  defended  the  worsliip  of 
images.  And  Catholic  christians  under  Mahammedan  rule 
adhered  to  the  practice  as  a  distinctive  l^adge  of  their 
religion. 

The  course  of  the  Empei'or  Leo  was  also  pursued  by 
his  successor  Constantme,  in  whose  reign  the  council 
of  754,  at  Constatinople,"cdndemned  the  worship  of  im- 
ages ;  but  not  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Catholic  public 
nor  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  who  did  not  recognize  the 
council.  A  new  stage  of  the  controversy  opeued,  the 
imperial  authority  being  generally  arranged  against  im- 
ages, and  the  popes  in  favor  of  them,  until  in  the  minor- 
ity of  the  Emperor  Constantino  VI.,  his  mother  Irene 
became,  in  780,  empress  regent,  and  sustained  the  cause 
of  the  image-worshippers.  Irene  called  a  general  coun- 
-.  .  ;'  tou-  *■  <-'il  to  meet  at  Nice,  in  787,  which,  with  her  support,  de- 
clared itnage-worship  to  be  orthodox,  and  defined  and, 
prescril^ed  the  practice.  That  council  is  accepted  by 
.  both  east  and  west  Catholic  churches,  and  remains  their 
authority  on  the  subject. 

The  controversy  was  opened  a  third  time  by  the  Em- 


93 

peror  Leo  V,  wlio,  in  813.  called  a  council  at  Constan- 
tinople, in  which  image-worship  was  condemned.  But 
finally,  when  another  empress  came  into  power,  namcl}* 
Theodora,  a  fourth  council,  convoked  at  Constantinople, 
in  842,  sustained  the  image-worshippers,  confirming  the 
second  council  of  Nice.  And  the  conti"oversy  closed 
witli  a  grand  festival  in  honor  of  that  decision,  which 
was  called  the  festival  of  orthodoxy. 

In  tlie  west,  during  [)art  of  the  eighth  century,  some 
controversy  was  created  hy  the  opinions  of  two  Spanish', 
bishops,  Elipand  of  Toledo,  and  Felix  of  Urgel,  that 
Christ  in  his  divine  nature  was  the  true  Son  of  God,  but 
as  a  man,  only  the  adopted  son.  The  opinion  was  rejected 
as  heretical  by  the  councilat  Frankfort  in  794. 

Transubstantiation  of  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist 
was  first  formally  taught  and  defended  by  Paschasius 
Eadbert,  abbot  of  Corbey  from  844  to  Sol.  Though 
practically  field  l>y  very  many  in  the  church,  from  earlier 
time,  it  encountered  strong  opposition,  when  first  pro- 
posed as  a  dogma,  and  was  not  accepted  authoritatively, 
nor  was  the  term  transubstantiation  introduced,  until 
long  afterwards.  Ral)anus  Maurus,  John  Scot.Erigena 
and  Katramims,  the  ablest  theologians  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, all  wrote  against  it. 

Controversy  was  I'evived  on  the  subject  of  predestina- 
tion  by  the  wiitings  of  Gottschalk,  a   monk   of  Fulda, 
r^^f?l<4y'«fc'^dio  from  about  840  taught  that  there  is  a  two-fold  pre- 
-i>r»^''^    destination  of  the  elect  to  blessedness,  and  of  the  rest  of      -    ^  ^  . 

m^-^^'"    mankind  to  punishment.     He  was  opposed  by  Raban us  %^,L\^'i^^^^ 
Maurus,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  liincmur.  Archbishop «/  '^ 

of  Rheims.  After  years  of  controversy,  Gottschalk  was 
condemned  to  imprisonment,  in  which  he  died,  in  868. 

A  controversy  concerning  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  had  more  inmediate  effect  upon  the  history'  of  the 
church.  The  creed  of  the  general  councils  states  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father.  A  conviction  which 
appeared  first  in  Spain,  in  the  acts  of  a  council  at  Toledo, 
in  589,  and  again  in  othei"  Spanish  councils  of  the  seventh 
century,  that  He  proceeds  from  both  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  was,  sometime  in  the  early  part  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tur}',  introduced  into  the   Latin    version    of  the    Creed. 


Oj~-<jt~i)   .  ~  f  i^^^      '-^  t'c^ 


94 

Tlier     proposal    to    insert    it    in     the    original     Greekjl     J^Z^^iJ, 
*  was    rejected   by  the   council   of  Constantinople   in  STP/"^ 

On  the  subject  oi'p'lioque,  the  eastern  and  western  Catholic 
church  established  a  permanent  difference  of  opinion. 

In  Armenia,  Parsism  became  blendfcl  with  Christian- 
ity giving  rise  to   that   sect  called    by  other   Christians 
"  The  children  of  the  sun."     '•  On  the  other  hand  a  class 
UJ ,  K.  c/^  i,'.^  r^,  ,■■  of  reformers  arose  in  tlie  east,  aljont  the  middle  of  the 
^Yy^^ti'/f'^^V"''- seventh  century,  who  sought  to  contorin  closely  to  the 
^,v-^y'^/tMu  /      teaching  of  the  apostles,  especially  of  John  and  Paul. 
\^l^(^-ijf:(f(u>''     Fvom   the   frequent  use   among  them  of  the  name  and 
^ji^cZr  writings  of  tlie  last  mentioned,  it  is  thought,  they  received 

thenamePaulicians,by  wliichthej-are  known.  Their  lead- 
ers, in  many  cases,  assumed  the  names  of  persons  con- 
nected vvitli  Paul  in  his  labors.  They  suffered  much  per- 
secution. Constantine,  who  took  the  name  Silvanus,  an 
eminent  teacher  among  them,  in  neighborhood  of  Samo- 
sata,  between  657  and  684  was  stoned  to  death  by  order 
of  the  emperor  Constantine  IV.  But  the  officer  who 
executed  the  order  becamo  a  convert  to  tlie  cause,  and  a 
preacher  of  it  under  the  name  of  Titus,  and  died  at  the 
stake  under  Justinian  II.  The  Paulicians  were  opposed 
to  image-worship,  and  for  that  reason  were  protected  bv 
the  emperor  Leo  Isauricus.  Through  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighth  century  and  until  811,  they  increased  in  num- 
ber and  spread  their  cliurches  over  Asia  Minor.  From 
811,  persecution  was  revived  and  continued  many  years, 
especially  under  the  rule  of  the  zealous  image-worship- 
per Theodora,  from  841  to  855,  who  with  a  fanatical  fury 
resolved  to  extirpate  them.  Not  less  than  a  iiundred 
thous'ind  of  them  are  said  to  have  been  slain  in  Armenia 
by  heJ'  officers.  Many  of  them  fled  for  refuge  to  the 
Saracens,  and  linding  protection  added  their  force  to  the 
enemies  of  the  empire.  But  notwithstanding  persecution, 
their  converts  also  increased  to  the  westward,  and  Pauli- 
cian  churches  were  founded  in  Thrace  and  Bulgaria,  and 
thence,  at  a  later  date,  their  doctrines  spread  under 
various  names,  into  the  west  of  Europe. 

The  last  years  of  the  eighth  century,  and  earlier  part 
of  the  ninth  were  marked  by  a  highly  laudable  eftbrt  at 
reform  ai:d  restoration  of  learning,  made  by  botli  Christ- 


95 

iiiti  and  MohaniiiKMlnn  j)rinecs. 

AnH>n«jj  the   Saracens,   it  was   tlie   time   of  the   s^rcat 

Abbasside  Kalits  of  Bagdad  :  a  dynasty  elev^^ed  in  750, 

,    A        ,,    iit  Daniaseus,  by  the  cruel  success  of  Abul   Abbas,  called' 

I ^^^7  -^  Al  Saffah.     Their  seat  of  government  was  subsequently 

removed  to  Hasheniiah,  and  in  762  to  Bagdad.     Al  Man- 

sur  and  Al  Mahadi  successively  reigned  after  Abul  Abbas 

,  until   785,  when   it  reached    its  liighest  excellence  under 

//t  y/U/-.'- Harun  Al  Raschid.      Upon  his  death  i!i  808,  his  sons  Al 

jt^Aaxo  -  Almin   and  Al   A[amun   reigned   successively   until   833. 

t4^«./w  .  Y\-o\\\  that  date  Bagdad  began  to  decline,  and  succeeding 

barbaric  invasions  rendered  decline  irretrievable. 

In  Spain  the  Moors  within  this  period  began  their 
career  of  civilization,  which  they  continued  until  the 
rise  of  modern  learning. 

In  the  Greek  empire,  the  state  of  culture  was  little 
improved ;  but  one  or  two  authors  flourished  there  greatly 
superior  to  any  of  the  foregoing  period. 

In  the  west  of  Christian  Europe,  the  eftbrt  towards 
restoration   of  learning  and   of  ecclesiastical    order   was 
earnestly  made,  b\'  those  at  the  head  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment, Pepin.  Charlemagne,  and  Louis,  from  751  to  840. 
For  the  time  then  being,  their  success  v^'^as  not  equal  to 
that  of  the  Mohammedan   princes;  but  the  seeds  they 
planted  bore  more  abundant  fruit,  in  afar  distant  future.       jT/r^  '    (i,: 
The  sons  of  Louis  divided  their  father's  dominion,  and  \^V^^/!nM^i  '^^ 
enfeebled  their  resources;  but  they  also  patronized  let-  '  <^^-^~^ 
letters  in    some  degree.      With  the  death  of  Charles  the  ^'"'"' 
bald  in  877,  such  patronage  ceased  in  that  quarter.     But 
almost  at  the  same  time  commenced  the  reign  of  Alfred 
the  Great  in  England,  extending  from  871  until  900. 

With  all  tlie  encouragement  of  Charlemagne,  the 
improvement  in  learning  was  very  slender.  Few  cared 
to  study,  and  the  course  of  instruction  even  in  the 
improved  schools  was  scanty.  The  topics  of  the  Tridum 
and  Quadrivkmi  were  briefly  and  superficially  treated. 
The  Scholars  who  illustrate  the  time  were  Alcuinus, 
Eo-inhard,  Rabanus  Maurus,  Hincmar,  Ratramnus,  John 
Scot  Erigeua,  and  Claudius  of  Turin.  Among  the 
Greeks  the  principal  name  is  that  of  Photius. 

For  thirty  years   Charlemage   made  war  on   various 


96 

nations  of  Saxons,  the  Boliemians  and  Huns,  wliom  he 
subdued,  and  constrained  to  profess  Christianity.  He 
also  invaded  the  Mohammedans  of  Spain,  and  drove  them 
from  that  part  of  tlie  peninsula  north  of  the  Ebro.  In 
772  lie  went  into  Italy  to  protect  the  Pope  from  the  Lom- 
bards, and  before  the  end  of  two  years,  put  an  end  to  the 
Lombard  kingdom.  And  in  786,  the  duke  of  Benevento 
submitted  to  hold  his  dutchy  as  a  tief  of  Charlemagne. 
The  kingdom  thus  built  up,  before  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century,  extended  from  the  Ebro  and  south  of  Italy  to 
the  Elbe  and  Eider  in  the  north,  and  from  the  Atlantic 
to  Panonia,  a  great  part  of  which  it  included,  and  the 
valley  of  the  Theis  in  Hungary. 

Pope  JjCo  hi,  seeing  all  this,  determined  to 
break  oft'  the  last  show  of  allegiance  to  Constantinople, 
and  connect  his  office,  on  dift'erent  terras,  with  the  new 
monarchy  of  the  west,  by  reviving  the  western  empire. 
On  the  25th  of  December,  800,  Charlemagne  was  at 
Rome  in  the  cljurch  of  St.  Peter.  When  keeling  at  the 
altar,  he  was  approached  solemnly  by  the  Poi»e,  who 
placed  on  his  head  a  golden  crown,  and  pronounced  him 
emperor  of  Rome  :  and  from  the  vast  congregation  burst 
forth  the  exclamation,  "Life  and  victory  to  Charles, 
crowned  by  God  emperor  of  Rome.'' 

There  was  now  again  an  emperor  of  the  west,  and 
Rome  and  the  Papacy  were  finally  separated  from  the 
emperors  of  the  east,  and  from  tlie  Byzantine  .system. 
This  is  the  point  at  which  the  popes  became  legally  inde- 
pendent. For  ecclesiastical  supremacy  was  never  recog- 
nized as  belonging  to  the  new  imperial  line  of  the  west. 
The  idea  of  being  free  from  civil  allegiance,  however, 
did  not  at  first  occur  to  the  su(^cessors  of  Leo  III.  But 
not  quite  half  a  century  had  elapsed  ere  that  also  was 
claimed.  Eugenius  II,  in  824  took  an  oath  of  allegiance; 
but  Sergius  II.,  in  844  ventured  to  neglect  it,  advantage 
being  taken  of  the  divided  state  of  the  secular  power. 
And  in  847  Leo  lY.  was  not  only  ordained  without  im- 
perial sanction,  but  also  assumed  precedence  of  princes 
'in  putting  his  name  to  documents.  An  attempt  was 
made  by  Nicholas  I.  in  858  to  impose  papal  superiority 
upon  Constantinople.     The  emperor  Michael  III.  having 


97 

removed  the  putriareli  Ig-natiiis,  and  a[)p()iiited  Photius 
ill  liis  stead,  fgnatius  applied  to  the  pope,  who  having 
first  in  vain  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  ecelesiasti- 
caljnrisdietion  of  lUyricnm,  Macedonia, E])irns,Thessaly, 
Achaia,  and  Sicily,  with  the  addition  of  Bulgaria,  took 
revenge  by  excommunicating  Photius.  Photius  retaliated 
by  excommunicating  Nicliolas.  Ignatius  was  restored 
by  the  succeeding  emperor  Basilius,  867,  but  neither  of 
them  complied  with  the  pope's  demand.  A  general 
council  at  Constantinople  in  869  condenmed  Photius. 
After  the  death  of  Ignatius  in  878,  Piiotius  was  restored. 
And  another  council  at  ( •onstantinople  in  879,  labored 
to  reconcile  the  two  hierarchs,  but  without  effect. 
Because  among  other  things  it  could  not  recognize  Rome 
as  the  last  court  of  appeal,  nor  assent  to  the  western  doc- 
trine of  the  procession  of  the  Holy  S[»irit,  nor  to  the 
claim  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  Bulgaria  and  other 
provinces  above  named.  Consequently  the  council  of 
879\vas  anatbematize<l  by  pope  John  VITI.  in  880.  The 
bishops  of  the  east  and  west  never  again  met  in  a  general 
council  of  both  churches.  For  the  eastern  Catholic 
church  recognizes  no  council  as  general  since  that  of  879. 
With  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  begins  the  true  set- 
tlement of  the  nations  of  western  Europe,  and  the  period 
of  dissolution  comes  to  an  einl. 

In  the  constitution  of  his  empire,  Charlemagne  had 
special  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  church.  And  that 
of  Ivome  was  the  model  which  he  endeavored  to  follow  : 
but  without  reeognizing  its  supremat-y.  The  highest 
authority  in  affair^  of  government  was  retained  for  tlie 
monarch,  who  summoned  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil 
assemblies,  and  whose  sanction  was  needed  to  confirm 
their  decrees.  And  in  the  administration  of  law,  bishops 
and  counts  were  associated,  and  instructed  to  support 
each  other.  Neither  Pepin  nor  Charlemagne,  though 
paying  great  honor  to  poi)es,  ever  allowed  them  any  other 
iniluenc^e  in  affairs  of  state  than  that  of  advice  or  remon- 
strance. Thus,  the  Galliean  church  obtained,  in  its  recon- 
struction under  those  great  princes,  a  degree  of  freedom 
from  papal  domination,  which  no  other  western  church 
could  claim. 


98 


In  the  reign  of  Louis,  papal  influence  was  suftered  to 
increase,  and  every  advantage  was  taken,  by  the  popes, 
of  the  division  and  enfeebling  of  the  empire  by  his  sons. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  church  of  Britain  was  most  faith- 
fully attached  to  Rome.  It  liad  no  antiquity  of  greater 
purity  to  regret.  In  Spain,  christians  living  under  Moor- 
ish rule  were  allowed  the  privileges  of  woi'ship,  and  of 
internal  church  government  and  discipline,  but  suffered 
in  many  ways  from  the  Mohammedan  populace.  Gothic 
Spaniards  were  independent,  and  almost  continually  at 
war  with  the  Moors. 

Mission  work  was  contined  chiefly  to  tlie  north  of 
Europe.  That  of  Anschar,  commenced  in  826,  carried 
Christianity  into  Denmark  and  Sweden,  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  tlie  archbishopric  of  Hamburg-Bremen, 
which  was  constituted  in  831.  And  what  Anschar  and 
his  companions  were  to  the  northwest  of  Europe,  Cyril 
and  Methodius  were  to  tb.e  northeast.  Tlirough  their 
efforts,  the  Moravians  were  added  to  the  eastern  church, 
about  the  year  862,  the  Bulgarians  about  864;  and  in 
subsequent  years  the  same  labors  \vei-e  extended  to  the 
Chazars,  a  people  living  to  the  north  of  the  Black  sea. 
From  Moravia  the  cause  was  carried,  in  871,  into  Bohe- 


mia. 


The  discipline  of  the  church  had  undergone  a  change. 
Private  confession  was  now  completely  established  ;  and 
the  priest  was  empowered  to  grant  absolution  under  con- 
dition of  a  penance  to  be  perfoi  med.  Excommunication 
was  not  often  inflicted,  but  from  the  civil  forfeitures,  and 
the  social  exc^lusion  connected  with  it,  had  become  greatly 
intensified  in  its  tei-rors. 

Superstitious  rites  and  observances  were  greatly  mul- 
tiplied. Saints  and  their  relics  increased  on  all  hands, 
and  legends  of  their  virtues  and  miracles,  manufactured 
cliieHy  in  the  east  and  at  Rome,  were  greedily  accepted 
by  an  ignorant  public  everywhere.  The  festival  of  All 
Saints  gradually  grew  into  use  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries,  and  in  the  ninth,  was  regularly  appointed  by 
Gregory  IV.,  for  the  first  of  ^ovumber.  A  festival  was 
introduced  in  honor  of  the  birth  of  the  Virgin  Mary  on 
the  8th  of  September,  and  for  her  ascension,  on  the  15th 


99 

of  iVugiist.  P^or  it  had  novv  been  decided  tliut  Mary  was 
taken  up  bodilj  to  heaven.  Certain  vvritin«:s  were  pre- 
sented by  the  eastern  emperor  Michael  11.  to  the  western 
emperor  Louis  the  pious,  as  the  works  of  Dionysius  the 
Areopa<2:ite.  The  French  scholars  and  people,  taking  the 
pretended  author  to  be  the  founder  of  tlieir  church, 
accepted  Dionysius  as  their  patron  saint.  Within  the 
same  period  the  christian  Spaniards  discovered  among 
them  the  wonderfully  preserved  body  of  the  apostle 
James  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  which  forthwith  became 
their  Palladium  in  war  with  the  Moors.  But  every 
country,  almost  every  family,  had  its  patron  saint,  embel- 
lished with  his,  or  her,  miracles. 

In  the  growth  of  the  papacy  in  the  ninth  century 
above  all  that  it  had  previously  been,  attempts  were  made 
to  fortify  the  ground  taken,  and  construct  the  weapons 
for  conquering  more  by  the  fabrication  of  certain  authori- 
ties. Certain  canons  of  councils  unheard  of  before,  and 
forged  epistles  of  early  popes  were  inserted  into  the  col- 
lection of  ecclesiastical  laws,  which  went  under  the  name 
of  Isidore  of  Seville.  They  were  of  a  nature,  if  enforced, 
to  make  the  clergy  independent  of  the  state,  with  the 
Roman  see  the  centre  of  their  system.  They  were  used 
as  law  from  the  time  of  Pope  Nicholas  I.  or  about  860, 
until  their  exposure  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Another 
similar  forgery,  which  came  into  operation  within  the 
same  period,  was  the  pretended  donation  of  Constantine, 
whereby  the  Pai)acy  endeavored  to  sustain  its  assumption 
of  a  rank  above  all  civil  potentates  and  powers.  This 
This  also  continued  to  be  adduced  as  legal  autliority  until 
exposed  by  modern  criticism. 

Amidst  accumulating  errors  and  corruptions  there 
were  still  numerous  examples  of  pastoral  fidelity  and 
of  true  christian  life  among  both  clergy  and  laity.  Ago- 
bard.  bisho}>  of  Lyons,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  the  pious, 
finding  the  worship  of  his  church  debased  by  the  super- 
stition and  ignorance  of  his  predecessors,  upon  his  own 
judgment,  removed  from  it  everything  inconsistent  with 
scriptural  doctrine,  and  confined  himself  as  much  as  por- 
sible  to  scriptural  forms  of  expression.  A  still  bolder 
reformer,  in   the  spirit  of  Christ,  was   Claudius    bishop 


100 


of  Tuvin,  who  eoiitondod  earnestly  for  tlie  simplicity  of 
Christian  faith,  in  opposition  to  the  sensuous  and  idola- 
trous practices  of  the  age.  He  exerted  an  influence  upon 
the  church  of  Turin  which  honorably  distinguished  it 
long  afterwards. 

VI.      880—1054. 

In  the  pontificate  of  Jolm  VIII.  the  Papacy  had 
reached  the  prime  of  its  early  success,  having  succeeded 
in  gatliering  together  in  itself  all  the  elements  of  Roman- 
ism. By  the  same  time  a  long  successson  of  eni[»erors 
and  patriarchs  in  Constantinople  had  matured  the  system 
of  Byzantinism.  It  was  impossible  that  they  could  live 
together  in  harmony,  diametrically  op[)osite  as  they  were 
to  eacli  other.  Some  of  tlie  points  on  wjiich  the  Pope 
and  J*atriarcii  differed  in  879  and  880,  were  such  as  could 
not  be  compromised.  Still,  the^'  continued,  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy-four  years,  to  hold  relations  to  each 
other  as  ministers  in  the  same  Catholic  church,  although 
in  a  state  of  bitter  rivalry,  until  in  theyear  1054,  they  sepa- 
rated entirely,  rending  the  Catholic  cliurch  in  two.  The 
intervening  period  is  the  lowest  in  the  histoi-y  of  civilized 
Europe.  It  is  marked  by  pai)al  degeneracy  ;  by  the 
decline  of  the  western  empire,  and  its  revival  as  German, 
and  by  the  darkest  shades  oi'  j)opular  ignorance. 

1.  Louis  the  pious  having  divided  the  empire  among 
his  three  sons,  died  in  840.  His  sons  immediately  rush- 
ed into  war  with  each  other,  and  made  a  new  division, 
by  the  treaty  of  Verdun  in  843,  whereby  the  general  out- 
lines of  P^rance  and  Germany  were  assigned.  But  be- 
tween these  two  countries  there  was  left  a  belt  of  terri- 
tory, which  united  to  the  Netherlands  on  the  north,  and 
Ital^'  on  the  south  was  given  to  Lothaire  with  the  title  of 
emperor.  Germany  was  assigned  to  Louis  the  German, 
and  France,  to  Charles  the  bald.  In  875,  the  whole,  with 
the  imperial  title  came  inio  the  liands  of  Charles  the 
bald.  From  his  death  in  877,  the  Carolingian  dyTiasty 
broke  down.  The  German  branch  of  it  liecame  extinct 
in  912.  Conrad  of  Franconia  was  elected  emperot,  but 
died  in  918.  The  next  was  Henry  the  Fowler  of  Saxony. 
From   his   accession    in    919,  the    western    empire,  as    a 


101 

German  power,  entered  a  new  career  of  prosperity,  in 
whicli  it  was  carried  forward  chiefly  l)y  Otiio  I.,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Henry,  from  086  to  973.  In  1024,  itpased 
again  into  the  house  of  Franconia,  heginning  witli  Con- 
rad II.,  followed  snccessivcU'  U\  Henry  HI.,  and  Henry 
IV.  The  hist  commenced  his  eventful  reign,  as  a  cliild 
of  six  vears  old  under  the  guarilianship  of  his  mother, 
in  1066. 

Tiie  Saracens  from  Africa,  after  having  coiupiered 
Sicily,  and  Naples,  were,  in  877,  tlireatening  Rome, 
when  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bald  deprived  the  Pope 
of  his  strongest  protector,  None  of  tlie  other  princes 
wcM'e  in  condition  to  help  him.  He  l)ouii;ht  the  .safety  of 
his  capital  by  promise  of  tribute  :  and  then  fcwmd  liim- 
gelf  in  the  hands  of  refractory  Italian  pi'inces.  He  took 
refuge  in  France  in  878.  John  VIII — died  in  882,  and 
was  followed,  for  nearly  a  hundred  and  seventy  years,  by 
a  series  of  popes,  of  whom,  with  only  one  or  two  exce|)- 
tions:  it  is  fair  to  say  that  whatever  tlieir  abilities  might 
be,  they  were  less  conspicuous  than  their  vices.  The 
papal  office  became  an  object  of  political  ambition,  to 
which  the  elections  wave  managed  l)y  [)arties  among  the 
Italian  nobles.  From  about  898.  if  not  earlier,  the  |>rin- 
cipal  power  was  wielded  by  certain  infamous  women  of 
high  rank,  and  l)y  thie  descen(hints  and  kindred  for  a 
hundred  years.  A  brief  interval  occurred  in  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Gerbert  (Silvester  IL),  a  good  man,  and  the  only 
good  scholar  the  age  could  boast,  and  whom  it  could  not 
understand.  But  his  term  of  office,  from  999  to  1003, 
was  too  brief  to  apply  any  impoi'tant  check  to  the  down- 
ward career  of  papal  history.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
eleventh  century  Rome  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil  was 
under  the  domination  of  the  noble  house  of  Tusculnm, 
a  branch  of  the  flagitious  stock  to  whom  it  had  been 
.subject  in  the  tenth  century.  So  low  had  the  papacy 
descended  that  men  were  put  into  it  without  the  pretence 
of  being  clergymen.  John  XIX  who  was  a  layman  and 
a  brother  of  the  count  of  Tusculum,  was  carried  to  the 
Papal  chair,  in  1024,  if  not  by  purchase,  at  least  by  the 
political  management  of  his  family.  He  was  succeeded 
in   1033,  by  his   nephew,    Benedict  IX.,  also   a    layman, 


102 

fi)i-  whom  tljo  papal  office  had  been  pui'chased  vvlien  iie 
was  hilt  a  hoy  of  ten  years.  Tlie  dissolute  life  of  Bene- 
dict matched  the  scandalous  manner  ot  his  election. 
Rome  endured  him  ten  years,  and  then  in  1044,  drove 
him  from  the  city,  and  set  up  Sylvester  III.  In  the 
course  of  tljc  strife  which  ensued,  Tnsculum  prevailed 
and  restored  Benedict.  Sylvester  under  excommunica- 
tion betook  himself  to  flight.  But  the  violence  of  par- 
ties did  not  cease.  Benedict  concluded  to  sell  his  office. 
It  was  purchased  in  1046  by  John  Gratian,  a  priest,  who 
took  the  papal  name  of  Gregory  VI.  Subse(piently 
Benedict  changed  his  mind,  his  party  again  rallied  round 
him,  and  enthroned  liim  once  more  in  theLateran  palace. 
One  of  his  ri\-als,  Gregoiw,  held  his  place  in  the  Cathe- 
di-a  of  St.  Maria  Maggiore,  while  the  otiier,  Sylvester, 
retained  St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican.  The  streets  of 
Rome  were  hai'assed  by  the  deadly  strife  of  their  pai'ti- 
sans. 

News  moved  slowly  in  those  days,  and  the  stolidity 
of  ignorant  su[)erstition  took  long  time  to  accept  the 
conviction  of  anything  wrong  in  the  papal  court.  But 
it  was  now  ini[»ossible  that  the  christian  public  could  be 
ignorant  of  such  a  scandalous  schism.  It  would  not  have 
been  well  for  the  churcli,  or  the  world  to  have  see 
the  papacy  submerged'  in  such  a  way  and  at  such  a 
juncture.  The  emoeror  Henry  III.,  came  from  Germany 
to  restore  order,  and  advanced  to  Sutri,  where  he  called 
a  council.  All  three  popes  were  cited  to  appear.  Bene- 
dict abdicated,  the  other  two  were  deposed  ;  and  a  new 
pope  was  elected  from  the  German  clergy,  who  took  the 
name  of  Clenjent  II.  Henry  then  marched  to  Rome  and 
inducted  his  pope  into  the  papal  throne,  with  the  appar- 
ent consent  of  the  Roman  clergy,  and  received,  for  him- 
self and  his  queen,  imperial  coronation  at  his  hands. 

But  it  was  not  the  emjicror  who  was  to  be  the  reformer 
of  the  papacy,  Clement's  attem[)t  to  reduce  the  irregu- 
larities of  bishops  and  other  clergy  utterly  failed  ;  his 
council  called  at  Rome  could  accom|;)lish  nothing,  from 
the  gigantic  extent  of  the  evils.  His  pontificate  was 
brief.  He  died  within  a  year.  Benedict  IX  took  occa- 
sion of  the  absence  of  any  higher  authority  to  renew  his 


103 

usurpation  once  moi-e,  ami  inaintaiiicil  it  iiiiio  inoiitli.s. 
A  new  pai'ty  in  favor  of  iinuerial  iuterfei'eiice,  united  in 
an  application  to  tlic  emperor  to  nominate  a  [)ope  accord- 
ini>;  to  liis  own  jud<>;ment.  He  sent  tliem  l^oppo,  bishop 
of  Brescia,  wlio  rei'j^nedas  Daniasus  If,  ouiv  twenty-three 
d;ivs.  Aij::ain  the  vacant  chair  awaited  the  emperor's 
nomination.  lie  api)oiiited  his  kinsman  Bruno,  l)ishop 
of  Toul,  a  man  of  learnin<^  and  humble  piety.  At  a  great 
assembly  at  Worms,  in  piesence  of  the  delegates  from 
Rome,  the  emperor  had  liim  invested  with  the  l)a(lges  of 
Pontifical  office.  Thus  the  Papacy,  through  necessities 
imposed  by  its  own  corru|)tions,  was  coming  distinctiv 
under  control  of  the  secular  power  :  and  so  loosely  had 
the  elections  been  latterly  conducted  that  the  seculai' 
power  was  needed  to  give  them  some  i-egularity. 

It  was  at  that  juncture  tliat  one  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary characters  of  the  middle  ages  appeared.  The 
newly  elected  Pope  was  encountebed  at  Besancon,  on  his 
way  to  Italy,  by  a  young  moidc  from  Cluny,  who  was 
destined  to  wield  a  more  than  imperial  infiuence  over 
him.  Hildebrand  was  a  native  of  Tuscany,  born  about 
1020,  educated  in  Rome,  and  afterwards  in  Cluny,  where 
the  monks  regai'ded  him  as  a  [trodigy  of  gifts',  a[»[)lication 
and  sanctity.  Hibs  education  was  entirely  monastic,  and 
his  ideas  of  papal  reform  were  drawn  from  the  monasteiw. 
About  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  returned  to  Rome,  at 
the  juncture  wh-en  the  strife  between  rival  popes  was  tlie 
fiercest,  and  attached  himself  to  Gregory-  VI.  When  all 
three  popes  were  deposed,  Hildebrand  followed  Gregory 
into  retirement,  and  after  his  death,  returned  for  a  short 
time  to  Cluny.  He  had  kept  himself  well  informed  of 
the  course  of  events  in  Rome;  and  now  greatly  dissatis- 
fied with  the  act  of  investiture  at  Worms,  he  presented 
liimself,  in  company  with  Hugh  Abbot  of  Cluny,  to  the 
Pope  elect  at  Besancon,  and  |)ersuaded  him  to  consider 
his  investiture  by  imperial  authority  null,  Bruno 
dismissed  his  papal  equipage,  and  in  company  with  Hil- 
debrand, pursued  the  rest  of  his  journey  in  the  manner 
of  a  pilgrim.  At  Rome  he  submitted  to  election  by  the 
clergy,  and  assumed  the  papal  office,  as  Leo  IX.,  upon 
purely  ecclesiastical  investiture. 


104 

2.  Bishops  veiy  generally  disapproved  of  papal  inter- 
meddling witli  the  tlomestic  affairs  (^f  their  dioceses. 
From  the  hitter  part  of  tlie  ninth  century,  the  False 
Decretals  operated  to  bring  them  under  that  control. 
Another  means  was  periiaps  not  less  effective.  The 
Po[ies  had  long  l)een  in  the  habit  of  conferring  archiepis- 
copal  office  by  giving  the  Pallium,  or  official  i-obe  :  and 
from  the  time  of  Nicholas  I.,  (858—867)  that  had  been 
given  only  on  condition  of  the  receivei' taking  an  oath  of 
ol)edien(;e  to  the  Romish  see.  According  to  the  False 
Decretals,  the  Pope  \v:is  universal  bishop.  It  was  by  the 
common  people  that,  in  those  days,  papal  claims  were 
su|)i>orted.  They,  with  a  superstitioiis  reverence,  con- 
ceived that  tlie  Pope  exercised  the  [towers  of  (iivine  law, 
and  were  ready  to  submit  to  him,  i-ather  tlian  to  any  au- 
thority, which  they  deemed  mei-ely  liunian. 

The  metropolitans,  or  arclibishops  of  the  west,  grad- 
ually brought  under  papal  dominion,  were  also  connected 
in  other  relations  with  the  civil  government.  In  the 
temporalities  of  their  sees,  they  were  involved  in  tlie 
generally  prevailing  feudal  system,  their  tenants  being 
feudally  dependent  on  them,  and  they  feudally  related  to 
the  monarch.  They  liad  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  him,  and  to  receive  from  him  investiture  in  their 
estates  and  civil  honors.  Thus  wei-e  planted  the  seeds 
of  quarrel  between  the  royal  and  papal  authorities. 

It  inevitably  foUow^ed  that  numbers  of  anibitious  per- 
sons obtained  high  places  in  the  churcli  through  rt)yal 
favor  or  political  mameuvring  or  by  money.  Inferior 
places  of  course  went  the  same  way  :  and  simony  became 
a  prevailing  vice  of  the  clergy. 

3.  The  ministrations  of  the  church  conducted  by  such 
men  had  ceased  to  contain  instruction.  Preaching  in 
most  places  was  obsolete.  The  service  was  in  latin  ;  and 
that  was  no  longer  spoken  or  understood  by  the  people. 
Religion  itself  became  a  dead  language  to  the  greater 
number, — a  mere  system  of  observances  and  repetition 
of  chanted  or  numbled  sounds. 

4.  The  monasteries,  in  wdiich  piety  and  intelligence 
did  find  some  refuge,  w^ere  always  difficult  to  regulate. 
Houses  on   the  system  of  Benedict,  after  many  fluctua- 


lOo 

tioiis,  before  the  beijiiiniu,!^  of  the  tenth  eentury,  had  all 
degenerated.  Monks  had  become  irreguhar,  idle  and 
dissohite.  As  a  measure  of  reform — the  only  reform  l)e- 
lono-ing  to  the  tcntli  century, — tlie  convent  of  Cluny  was 
founded  in  910  by  William'of  Aquitaine.  The  rules  of 
Benedict  were  there  revived  and  some  were  achled,  espe- 
cially by  tiie  second  abbot  0(h),  who  by  the  strictness  of 
his  (liscipline  secured  for  his  convent,  a  re[)utation  for 
eminent  sanctity.  After  its  example,  other  monasteries 
were  founded  or  reformed,  and  its  abbots  were  sometimes 
invited  elsewhere  for  that  purpose.  The  association  of 
monasteries,  looking  to  Cluny  as  their  exemplar,  was 
spoken  of  as  the  Conr/ref/aiio  Clioiiaren-''is,  nud  its  abbots 
somtimes,  as  archabbots.  Many  persons  who  were  not 
monks  so  connected  themselves  with  tliem  as  to  be  allow- 
ed, according  to  the  tiieh  prevailing  ideas,  a  "  share  in 
the  spiritual  blessing  of  the  brotherhood,"  and  were  called 
Frrires  Corwripti,  or  Confratres.  Cluny  was  assigned  to 
the  immediate  care  of  tlie  pope.  In  that  respect  also 
many  otlier  monasteries  followed  its  exanqde. 

5.  The  reign  of  ignorance  and  superstition  continued. 
God  was  concealed  from  the  view  of  worshippers  by  a 
multitude  of  saints  held  up  for  adoi'ation  in  his  stead. 
Every  place  of  worship  was  supplied  with  their  relics, 
which  were  bought  and  sold  for  their  miraculous  virtues. 
And  popular  instruction,  consisted  almost  solely  of 
legends  designed  to  set  off  such  wares.  The  Virgin  Mary 
was  honored  most  of  all.  Saturday  was  set  apart  to  her, 
and  a  daily  office  introduced  in  her  worship. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  not  entirely  left  out  of 
view,  but  together  with  other  persons  of  the  Godhead 
was  put  at  a  great  distance  off,  when  he  was  not  repre- 
sented as  a  child  or  a  corpse.  Access  to  him  as  God  was 
held  to  be  through  his  mother. 

In  doctrine,  the  church  still  professed  the  creed  of 
the  general  councils  ;  practically,  reliance  for  salvation 
rested  upon  good  works,  penance  and  the  intercession  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints.  By  good  works  were 
understood  works  of  mercy,  but  also,  to  a  great  extent, 
acts  of  asceticism,  or  of  attendance  on  formal  observ- 
ances, or  donations  to  the  church.    Penances  were  now  re- 


106 

(InceJ  to  a  system,  regulated  by  written  rules.  It  was 
an  act  of  great  merit  to  exceed  those  rules,  by  voluntary 
infliction.  It  was  now  practically  admitted  that  pardon 
of  fin  could  be  granted  by  tlie  priest,  upon  confession  to 
him,  and  comi)liance  with  the  penance  by  him  imposed. 
Excommunication,  as  a  means  of  coercion,  now  reached 
its  extremest  severity;  and  was  carried  to  its  widest  a[)- 
plication,  in  the  form  of  tlie  interdict. 

A  signal  confession  of  judicial  inca[)acity  was  implied 
in  trial  by  ordeal,  a  heathen  custom  introduced  from 
Germany,  and  now  superintended  by  i  he  clergy :  of  similar 
nature  was  tljat  of  trial  by  battle,  the  most  degenerate 
ettects  of  which  have  lasted  longest. 

One  institution  of  the  time  for  whicli  the  clergy 
deserve  credit  was  tlie  Truce  of  God,  an  attempt  to  ])Ut 
some  check,  though  only  partial  and  brief,  upon  the  pre- 
valence of  private  wars. 

Popularly  it  was  believed  that  all  things  were  sink- 
ing towards  dissolution,  and  that  the  world  would  come 
to  an  end  in  the  year  1000  after  Christ. 

The  very  missionary  enterprises  of  the  time  partook 
•_  /  'j^yOt    its    wild     half    heathenish     character.      In     Norway 
J''y   0     ^     .^Christianity  was   established    by    force   ot  arms.  _  Bj  th.e_,,/^^__  <^^ 

-i^    I     ' ''•Vsame  means  it  obtained  the  mastery  in  Bohemia  and  was         ' 
'<)'/;  j!r-^'^ '^ 7   ^'''^*''^'^*^    upon    the  Wends   by  the   German  Empire,  upon 
'V    V/  //-  '-  -''the  Hungarians  bv  their  Kino-s,  and  upon  the  Russians  A'^^  ^'" 

p       K  by  their  Grand  Duke.      lliat  tlie   ofospel  or  Christ  sur-^        ■.      , 

rsr   J)Q(  den      vived    such    extravagant    misrepresentation    is    ^''''ost  ^    ^  ^-j^ 
•^  miraculous,  and   due  chiefly  to  the   preservation  of  the  ,;/^^^-'' 
written  Word,  and  the  fact  that  there  was  always  some-  ' 

where  a  remnant  true  to  the  spirit  of  its  instructions.         ^,   , 

6.'  In   order  to  a  Just  apprehension  of  the  church  in      '^  >' 
the  Middle  Ages,  it  is  im])ortant  to  distinguish   between     ^-^    '4.' 
the    church/  and   >r(the    hierarchy 'i^e^^^f;   between    tlie  ^<- 

episcopal  authorities  and  tlie  papal.'^  ^' 

The  church  of  God  was  opi)ressed,  crushed  beneath 
the  weight  of  powers  which  had  assumed  to  govern  it, 
and  were  making  their  gain  thereby;  but  it  was  never 
extinguished.  Prevented  from  demonstrating  itself  out- 
wardly in  any  proper  organic  form,  it  existed  in  the 
hearts  of  individuals  and  in  their  spiritual  sympathy  and 


107 

nii(ki-staii(lin:j^  with   one   anotlicr,  in   as   tai-  as   tliej  luul 
any  kii()\vk'(l<2:e   of  each    other's    faith.      [ii    that  state  of 
ot  things  a    pious   elergvnian    or     jjrince    was    of   great 
service    in    giving    centralization    to    some     extent     to 
the  scattered   piety  of  the  christian    worhl.     Tlie    most 
conspfcuous  exatn|)le  of  that  kind,  witliin   the  pei'iod  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  was  that  of  Alfred,  King  of 
England,    \\\{\\    his   immediate   successors,    Edward   and 
Atlielstane.      Alfred  was   king  from  871  to  900,  and  his      (\ 
son   and  grandson  successively  maintained  his  improve-    sJai.L,^^'^' — «■  ^  ^ 
ments   until   940.     Suhsequently    England  was  harassed  a^^f^^^  ,v>'y6-^-c 
by  Danish  invasion,  under  which  state  and  church  alike  ^c, /^-Uv>-4,'<-«-v>-  d^t. 
suffered  a  new  and  deeper  dei»ression,  until  all  England,  c^^-tTv'^^^-v, . 
came  under  the  rule  of  the  Danish  king  Canute.      A  brief 
attempt  at  better  govfi-nment  bv  thar  wise'  monarch  was 
followed  by  new  disorders,  until  the  kingdi^m  was   over- 
whelmed by  the  Norman  conquest,  in  106G. 

7.  In  the  same  year  in  which  I^eo  [X.  died,  1054,  all 
intercourse  between  the  eastern  and  western  catholic 
churches  came  to  an  end.  A  letter  fi-om  rhe  patriarch 
of  Constantinople  to  a  friend,  commenting  on  the  errors 
and  abuses  of  the  west,  was  responded  to  with  great  bit- 
terness. Papal  delegates  were  sent  to  Constantinople 
who  attempted  to  treat  the  Patriarch  as  a  subject  of  the 
Pope.  Their  Pretensions  were  not  allowed.  They  laid 
an  act  of  excoinmunication  upon  the  great  altar  of  St, 
Sopliia,  to  which  the  patriarch  responded  with  an  ana- 
tliejiia.  And  thus,  on  the  IGtIi  of  July  1054,  the  two 
great  hierarchs  parted  forever. 

8.  It  was  at  the  same  juncture,  when  the  l^opes 
entirely  separated  from  the  eastern  cliurch,  that  they 
began  to  adopt  those  measures  (^f  policy  which  eventuated 
in  maturing  the  Papal  system,  and  in  carrying  it  to  a 
real  domination  over  the  west.  The  next  period  is  that 
of  the  liighest  papal  prosperity, 

VII.      1054—1305. 

In  the  year  1054,  upon  the  death  of  Leo  IX.,  Ililde- 
brand  first  undertook  to  manage  the  papal  elections. 
The  policy  of  his  adoption  continued,  in  the  main,  suc- 
cecsful  until  tlie  quarrel  with  the  King  of  France,  which 


108 

issnod  ill  removal  of  tlie  pay>al  residence  to  Avignon,  in 
13<>5.      The  interval  is  a  true  historical  period  possessing 
features  of  its  own,  to  be  found  no  where  else.     It  pre- 
sents the  maturity  of  the  Papacy,  witliin  whicii  that  sys- 
tem exercised  the  highest  and  widest  authority  it  was  ever 
permitted   to    wield.     Secondly,  it    was  the  time  of  con- 
troversy between  tlie  German  Emperors  and  the  Popes. 
/r.Tr  J.    7   je^  '    A    third    feat ui'e  was   the    scholastic  tlieoloo-y  •   a  fourth, 
•  .       ^<«.^/,aL  i  the  Ci'usades  ;   and  a  tilth,  the  ])rogressive  quickening  or 
^^-.v^     '^ .  intellect,    as    manifested    in    the    increase    of  dissenting 
■    *  religious  sects,  mcipiency  or  popular  song,  and  rise  and 

|)rogress  of  schools  and  universities. 

1.  During  the  pontificate  of  Leo  IX.,  Ilildebrand, 
now  a  cardinal  subdeacon,  improved  ever\'  op])ortunity 
to  increase  Ins  inHuence  ;  and  succeeded  in  putting  him- 
self at  tlie  head  of  a  paity  seeking  to  correct  abuses  in 
the  chui-ch,  which  had  long  been  found  incorrigible. 
Three  objects  he  had  in  view;  first  the  I'emoval  of 
Simony,  and  lay  interference  in  church  matters;  second, 
to  repress  tlie  immorality  of  the  clergy,  and  third  to 
bind  all  the  elements  of  the  Papacy  into  sucii  a  system 
as  to  realize  ths  supremacy  to  which  it  as)»ired.  A  grand 
conception  that  of  a  dominion  constructed,  by  means  of 
a  perfectly  organized  hierarchy,  upon  the  basis  of  i-eligion 
and  morals,  and  subordinating  to  itself  all  the  other 
powers  and  dignities  of  earth;  but  it  had  only  a  mechani- 
cal relation  to  tlie  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  was  not 
entirely  new.  It  had  certainly  been  entertained  by  some 
of  the  gifted  popes  of  the  ninth  century.  But  Hilder- 
l)rand  recognized  and  retrieved  its  elements  from  the 
degradation  to  which  they  had  been  reduced  in  a  long 
career  of  p;ipal  proHigacy,  and  reconstructed  them,  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  with  the  greatest  effect. 
Execution  of  the  design  began  with  enforcing  the 
celebacy  of  the  clergy;  and  much  to  that  end  was  done 
•f- 1 0  i  "Lf  by  Leo  IX.;   but  the  pivot  of  the  whole  was  in  the  papal 

elections,  which  Hildebrand  never  suffered  to  escape 
from  his  control.  By  application  to  the  emperor  he 
obtained  the  a[)pointment  of  the  candidate  of  his  choice 
as  successor  to  Leo.  Gebhardt  bishop  of  Eichstadt,  an 
influential   counselloi-  of  the  Emperor,  and  centre  of  an 

'    '        •  /^  •  /    /  ^    '    L    ' 


10!) 


..>/v^f 


if-^  O   ^<r»_  *  c* 


aiitipai)al  pai'ty  in  tlio  north,  was  a  manifold  gain    to  tbo 
cause    of  jtapal    reform.      ITe    took    tlie    papal    name   ot 
Victor  [r.,an(l  continued  in  ortice  until  liis  death  in  1057. 
Meanwhile  in  105()  tin;  Kmpcror  Henry  III.  died,  leavint:\ 
hie  oldest   son,  a   child    of  tii.x    years    undei"   the  reo;ency  '' 
of  the   Kmpi-ess.      in    those  circumstances,   the    reform-;^, 
iiii!;  party  hail    no  ditlicultv  in  electinir  their  own  candi- r 
date,  who   took   the    name   Stei)hen  IX.      Durino^  Ililde- 
drand's  absence    from    Rome,    Steplien    died:    and    the 
opposite  l»arty  elected   I*>enedict  X.      Ilildehrand,  on  lii.s 
return  succeeded  in  reversing  tliat  action,  and  in  setting 
up  ^Nicholas  I[.      Under  Nicholas  a  law  was  enacted  to 
regulate  }>apal  elections,  ordaining  that  the  pope  should 
be  elected  from  the  cai'dinals,  and  by  the  college  of  car- 
dinals.    At  this  juncture   the    reforming   j>;irty   secured^ 
the   sup[)ort   of  tlie    Normans,   vvlio   had    recently  taken 
[lossession  of  Najdes  and.  Sicily. 

When  Nicl'.olas  II.  died,  in  1061,  the  po|io  elected  by 
the  oppoising  party  with  the  sanction  of  tlie  empress  was  ;-A;  Uvih^  fit.^/> 
constrained  to  give  phice  to  Alexander  II.  elected  by  the  ry[r,,,u)  '^l'  /c-^i-'^'., 
cardinals  alone.  In  1073,  after  the  death  of  Alexander, 
the  choice  of  the  cardinals  fell  ui)on  Ilildebraiul  who 
took  the  name  Gregory  VII.  The  youngemperor  Henry 
IV.  was  novv  on  the  throne.  Pope  Alexander  had  ex- 
communicated some  of  the  imperial  counsellors,  and 
demanded  their  removal  from  court.  But  they  had  been 
retained  in  favor.  Hildebrand  took  up  the  cause;  and 
called  upon  the  emperor  to  comply  with  the  papal 
tiemand.  Henry,  at  the  first  adnnnution,  was  engaged 
in  war,  and  replied  by  a  submissive  letter.  And  so  the 
matter  rested  for  that  time. 

But  the  authority  assumed  by  the  new  {)ope  was  sucli 
as    upon    being   more   fully  unfolded,    the   emperor  |)er 
ceived  he  could  not  allow.     The  i)olicy  of  Gregory  VII., 
not  declared  all  at  once,  but  evinced  in  the  course  of  his 
[)ontilicate,  ami   abundantly  stated   in    his   epistles,    and  /' 
succinctly  epitomized  in  the  Du'tittas    Gregorii,  aimed  at 
establislnng  the  Papacy  as  an  absolute  despotism  overall 
the   powera   and  potentates   of  earth,  ecclesiastical   and  , 
civil,  and  arrogated  for  it,  even  from  monarchs.  the  pro-  ; 
fession  of  honnige  by  acts  the  most  aV»ject  and  degrading.  '/ 


-  ^Xpj 


r^-(  T     t^Fc^^- 


f,\f, 


110 

But  the  office,  diii-iuo;  tlie  twenty  years  of  liis  precediiio^ 
counseU,  had  giiiiied  ininiensely  by  the  removal  of  moral 
conniption,  by  the  systematizing  of  its  lousiness,  by  tlie 
dignified  reguhtrity  of  elections,  and  fre<)nent  and  con- 
sistent assertion  of  its  sovereignty  i)efore  a  public  well 
prepared  to  admit  tlieni.  Tlie  subjection  of  the  clergy, 
on  tlie  footing  of  celibac}-,  and  isolation  from  the  com- 
mon intei'csts  of  society,  had  beeti,  in  the  maijn,  effected. 
And  the  Reformer  was  now  prepared  to  enter  u|)on  the 
tliird  part  of  his  [)roject,  namely  the  removal  of  simony, 
and  of  lay  interference  in  tiie  church.  To  achieve  that 
he  must  begin  with  the  source  from  which  that  widely 
ramified  evil  i)roceeded,  at  tliu  court  of  the  emperor,  and 
with  the  case  cf  ei)iscopal  investiture.  The  occasion 
which  led  to  actual  hostilities  was  the  excominunicM- 
tion  of  certain  imperial  counsellors  for  simony,  and  the 
emperor's  faihii'e  to  remove  them  from  his  sei'vicc. 

That    case    stood    in    suspense    for    over    two    years. 
Meanwhile    at   a   iSynod   in    Rome  ( 1075,)  it  was  decreed 
tliat  if  any  person  should  accept  a  bisiiopric,  or  an  al)bacy 
from  the  hands  of  a  layman,  he  should  not  be   regarded 
as  a  bishop  or  an  abbot,  nor  alloAved   to  entei'  a  church, 
until  he  had  given  up  tlie  illegal  claim  :   and  all    laymen, 
of  whatevei-  rank,  who  should   bestow  such   investiture, 
were  to    be  excluded    from    church    communion.     Next 
year,  'Jregoi-y  summoned   the  emperor  to  appear  before -'^w 
him  in  Rome,  on  [tain  of  anathema,  if  he  failed  to  obey. 
He  did  not  obey  ;   but  on  the  contrary,  called  a  council  of 
(.Tcrman  bishops  at  Worms,  and  had  a  sentence  of  deposi- 
tion passed  againsttlie  pope.      Gregory  forwith  issued  his 
excommunication  of  tlie  emperor,  declaring  him   incom-     ^ 
petent  to   reign   any  longer,  and  forbade    liis  subjects  to 
obey    him.      He  also    excommunicated    the   assembly   at 
Worms.     The    subjects    of  the    emj)eror    were    divided. 
The  princes   met  at  Tribur,  and  resolved  that  he  should 
not    reign    until    he  hail  obtained  removal  of  the  excom- 
munication ;   and  a[)pointed   a  council   to  meet  at  Augs- 
burg to  try  him,  in  wdiich  trial  tlie  pope  was    to   preside. 
Henry  hurried  into  Italy,  and  met  the  pope  at   Canossa 
but  obtained  admittance  to  his  presence  only  after  a  most 
humiliating  penance  of  three  days  before  the  door  of  the 


;'Jft*v./(r/l 


/   W  ~G>u^  kv-cw    s-ey    '-^'^-«    4>tnAAA-6^  . 


m 

custle.  IIl'  uhtaiiiL'd  remisRiou  ai'  hif;  iinnisliiiK-nt,  and 
tlic'ii,  (MICH'  iiioi-e  emperor,  tlioiii;-lit  of  revenue  tor  his 
humiliation.  The  [lope  was  now  in  danger.  His  party  in  » 
Germany  elected  a  new  emperor,  Rudolph  of  Suabia.  H^^^'^l^l'^i 
War  ensued,  which  lasted  several  yearn.  Tiie  i)Ope 
renewed  the  excommunication.  The  emperor  renewed 
his  act  of  deposing  the  pope,  and  added  to  that  the  elec- 
tion of  atjotlier  pojie,  Clement  III.,  whom  he  to')k  t<» 
Home,  and  enthrimed  hy  force  of  armn.  Meanwhile 
Kudolpii  died.  The  full  weight  of  tiie  imperial  arm  now 
tell  upon  the  pope,  who  found  refuge  among  the  Nor- 
mans of  Naples,  and  died  at  Saiernt),  May  25,  1085. 
Thus  the  first  attempt  at  coercing  the  emperor  failed. 

Pope  Clement  III.  reigned  in  Rome.  But  the  Gre- 
gorian party  elet-ted  their  own  pope,  Victor  III.,  and 
when  he  died,  in  1087,  continued  the  succession  by  elect- 
ing Urban  II.  For  more  than  ten  yeais  the  emperor 
retained  his  advantage,  and  tlie  Gregorian  party  remained 
under  depi'ession,  until  the  enthusiasm  of  the  first  Cru- 
sade swept  away  everything  befoie  it.  Of  that  move- 
ment Urban  was  the  organizing  power.  On  its  tide  he 
was  carried  to  liome  in  triurnpli.  Military  resources 
were  withdrawn  from  the  emperoi-  by  the  irresistible 
attraction  of  the  Crusade.  Pope  Clement  unsustained, 
ceased  to  be  of  aii3'  importance.  He  survived  his  rival  a 
few  Mjonths,  but  in  such  reduced  circumstances  of  hit* 
party  that  upon  his  death  no  successor  could  take  his 
place.  Tiie  first  Ci'usade  was  the  real  triurnpli  of  Hilde- 
brand.  From  that  juncture  the  fortunes  of  Heni-y  IV. 
declined.  Urban  II.  died  July  29,  1099,  just  fourteen 
days  after  the  Crusaders  had  entered  Jerusalem.  But 
his  successor,  Pascal  II.,  pursued  the  same  policy.  The 
em[)eror,  reduced  in  resources,  was  persecuted  with  ana- 
themas, his  son  encouraged  to  lebel  against  him,  and  his 
subjects  to  revolt,  until  broken  down  in  health  and  spirit, 
he  retired  to  private  life,  and  died  in  poverty,  1106. 

The  eame  year,  the  controversy  about  investitures  in 
England  was  settled  by  the  pope  giving  his  sanction  to 
the  practice  of  churchmen,  holding  benefices,  taking  the 
oath  of  fealty  to  the  king.  The  king  of  France  also  fell 
under  papal  excommunication,  to  which  he  submitted, 
and  was  absolved. 


112 

III  the  history  of  the  pa{)acy,  the  next  two  liuiidi-ed 
years  were  ocenpied  with  a  struggle  to  maintain  that 
elevation  of  supremacy  secured  in  the  end  of  tlie 
eleventh.  In  some  quarters  it  was  lield  with  great  diffi- 
culty;  in  others  it  was  increased;  sometimes  the  pope 
seemed  on  the  verge  of  failure;  for  his  supremacy  over 
the  state  was,  even  iu  its  best  ilays,  of  j)recarious  tenui'e; 
but  some  favorable  event  always  turned  up  to  restore  him 
to  his  vantage  ground  :  and  in  the  lust  emergency,  his 
refuge  was  in  popular  superstition  and  commoti(^n, 
especially  a  crusade,  in  which  he  was  always  looked  to 
by  western  Europe  as  the  liead  of  Christendom.  The 
([uestion  of  investitures  was  settled  with  the  empire,  1122, 
yLy  ^^\  by  a   com[)rise,  in  wliich   the  monarch  invested  with   the 

.,^  .    ^  /    ,  .  temporalities  and   the  pope  with  the  spii'itual  otHce,  and 

•''^^-i^'  symbols  were  chosen  accordingly. 

<;/>'/>"  ^     With   the   death    of  Henry  V.  in    1125,  the   imperial 

dynasty  of  Franconia  came  to  an  end.      Lathaire  of  Sax- 
ony was  elected  in  the  papal  interest.     Dui-ing  his  reign 
C^.  the   papacy  enjoyed    the  full  suppoi't  of  the  civil  power, 

but  was  divided  by  a  schism  within  itself  most  of  the 
time.  Lothaii'c  III.  died  in  1137,  and  the  new  and  more 
potent  dynasty  of  the  Hohenstanfen,  the  dncal  line  of 
/->  Suabia  came  to  the  throne  in  the  person  of  Conrad  III. 
In  the  interest  of  that  imperial  house,  a  party  was  formed, 
which  received  tlie  name  VV^aibelingen,  or  Ghibelline, 
opposed  to  the  Guelphs,  or  Saxon  pai'ty,  which  sustained 
the  pope.  For  ages  these  two  factions  distracted  Italy 
and  the  empire. 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  a  young  priest,  had  come  from 
study  of  Scripture  to  the  conviction  that  the  clergy  should 
hold  no  estate;  but  live  upon  the  free  will  offerings  of 
ihe  church;  and  that  priests  of  corrupt  morals  were  by 
that  fact  no  longer  priests  at  all.  Some  of  his  views 
accorded  with  the  etforte  at  that  time  made  by  some 
Italian  cities  to  secure  their  independence,  and  were 
accepted  very  extensively.  Arnold  was  condemned  by 
the  Lateran  council  of  1139,  But  his  opinions  prevailed 
with  a  great  majority  of  the  people  even  in  liome.  A 
revolution  was  contemplated,  in  which  the  tempoi-al 
sovereignty  of  the   Pope  was   to   be   abolished,  and   tlie 


jiUi  <■■(•, 


ancient  repnl)lii.':ui  ixovenunLMit  le.stori'd.  'I'lic  iiisi]ro;eiits 
occupied  the  Capitol.  Pope  Lucius  [[.  was  killed  in  the 
attempt  to  reduce  thetn  In- force  His  succc>^S()r  P]u^enius 
in.  tied  to  France,  and  awaited  some  favorable  turn  of 
affairs.  He  liad  not  long  to  wait.  The  Kingdom  of  Jeru- 
salem, iiard  pressed  by  the  Saracens,  who  had  taken  the 
city  of  Edessa,  was  calling  aloud  to  Europe  for  relief. 
By  tlie  preaching  of  Ik'rnard  of  ('lairvau.v,  arid  others, 
the  crusading  tVenzy  was  aroused  once  more.  A  vast 
ai-my  was  raided  and  marched  off  to  Palestine  in  1147 
under  command  of  the  Emperor  Conrad  III.,  and  King 
Louis  VII.  of  France.  Liferior  interests  lost  their  hold 
upon  the  pul)iic  mind.  Zeal  for  the  crusade  absorbed 
all.  Once  more  the  Pope  was  the  highest  dignitarv  in 
Europe.  Eugeniua  was  restoi-ed  to  Rome  and  protected 
by  the  arms  of  Roger  of  Sicily.  The  second  crusade 
failed  in  the  east;  but  it  buoyed  u))  tlie  papal  cause  at 
home.  By  the  a<ldress  of  Adrian  IV.,  who  came  to  the 
papal  chair  in  1154,  the  Romans  were  induced  to  banish  '  ,  i  -  ' 
Arnold.  The  Emperor  Frederic  Barbarossa  marclied  an  ,J C kA---  ^^A*^  ^ 
army  into  the  nortli  of  Italy  and  reduced  the  Lombard  o^,^,^  /  ' 
towns.  Arnold  was  surrendered  into  his  hands,  and  by 
him  transfcMTcd  to  the  pope.  The  Pope  hanged  hini, 
burned  his  body  and  cast  the  ashes  into  the  Tiber. 
Arnold  was  the  victim,  over  whose  immolation  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope  held  a  common  rejoicing  and  for 
the  time  reconciled  their  differences. 

It  was  Pope  Adrian  IV.  who  in  1155  granted  to  Henrv 
11.  of  England  to  conquer  Ireland,  on"  the  condition  of 
annexing  it  to  the  Roman  See.  A  few  years  later,  a 
papal  attempt  to  make  the  clergy  of  England  indepen- 
dent of  the  crown  to  connect  them  more  intimately  with 
Rome,  gave  occasion  to  the  meeting  at  Clarendon,  in 
1164,  which  drew  up  the  celebrated  Clarendon  Constitu- 
tions, one  of  the  oldest  documents  lying  at  the  basis  of 
English  freedom.  The  articles  were  sixteen,  designed  to 
limit  Papal  aggressions,  and  make  the  clergy  amen- 
able, in  some  degree,  like  other  men  to  laws  of  the  land. 
Becket  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  whole 
body  of  the  English  clergy  took  oath  to  observe  them. 
But  the  articles  being  condemned  by  the  Pope,  Becket 


-vJ  ^  '^L 


114 

changed  his  luiiid  and  broke  his  oath,  upon  obtaining  papal 
ab^iohition.  lliw  snb.sequent  conduct  was  that  of  rebel- 
lion against  the  king,  and  directed  to  sustain  papalisni 
in  England.  It  led  to  a  disj)ute  between  hiiu  and  the 
king  in  which  he  tied  to  the  contitient.  A  reconciliation 
took  place.  i>ut  after  restoration,  Becket  returned  to  his 
foi-nier  pi'actices.  Four  English  knights,  hearing  the 
king  express  himself  angrily  about  the  matter,  went  to 
Cantei'bury  and  slew  Becket  while  at  service  in  church. 
(1170).  Tlie  King  was  blamed,  and  four  years  later  was 
constrained  to  do  penance  at  Becket's  tomb. 

Pope  Alexander  III.  (1159-1181)  assumed,  in  recog- 
nizing the  inde[)endence  of  Portugal,  to  grant  to  the 
kings  of  that  country  the  right  to  as  mucii  land  as  they 
could  conquer  from  the  Moluimtnedans. 

In  1183  the  Emperor  Fi-ederic  Barbarossa  made 
peace  witli  the  Loml)ards,  secured  the  favor  of  tlie  Ger- 
man clergy,  and  by  the  marriage  of  his  son  to  the  heir- 
ess of  Sicily,  attached  that  wealthy  island  to  his  dynasty. 
The  strength  of  the  papal  suj»port  was  thereby  divided, 
while  insurrection  raged  within  the  papal  estates.  Lucius 
III.  and  Urban  III.  were  successively  expelled  from 
Rome. 

But  again  the  papacy  was  saved  by  a  crusade.  tSala- 
din  had  taken  Jerusalem,  (1187),  and  all  Europe  was 
roused  to  a  new  effort  for  recovery  of  the  holy  places. 
The  emperor  put  himself  at  the  head  of  it,  May,  1189, 
mai-ching  by  land.  He  lost  his  life  in  Asia  Minor,  and 
his  ami}-  perislied  at  the  seige  ot  Acre.  Two  other  por- 
tions of  the  great  army  were  led  by  Philip  Augustus  of 
France,  ai]d  Richard  I.  of  England.  With  all  the  armies 
led  out,  and  prodigies  of  valor,  on  the  part  of  the  crusa- 
ders, little  was  eit'ected.  Philip  Augustus,  soon  after  the 
seige  of  Acre,  returned  home;  and  Richard,  after  taking 
Joppa  and  Askelon,  learning  that  the  King  of  France 
was  projecting  an  invasion  of  England,  concluded  a 
peace  of  three  years  with  Saladin,  and  left  Palestine, 
kSept.  1192.  Meanwhile  the  Pope  had  brought  Rome  to 
submission,  and  re-established  his  authority,  and  the 
early  death  of  the  new  em[)eror,  Henry  VI.,  removed  the 
dangei-  threatening  from  his  possession  of  Sicily  in  right 


i>r  liis  wife.  Tlie  heir  of  the  iiiiperi.il  house  was  a  ehild 
only  rhree  years  of  ao^e.  when  the  most  successful  of  all 
j)opes  began  his  pontificate.  Henry  VI.  died  Sept.  28, 
1197,  and  Innocent  III.  ascended  tlie  chair  of  tln^  pa])acy, 
on  tlie  8th  of  January  followiiiij. 

Circntnstances  favored  the  new  po])e  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  Home  had  been  pacilled.  The  death  of  the 
emperor  ijave  place  to  a  lonj:;  contested  succession,  the 
empress  Constantia,  lieiress  of  Sicily,  to  secure  that 
dominion  for  her  son,  accepted  investiture  from  the  Pope, 
and  on  the  eve  of  lier  death  which  took  place  before  the 
end  of  1198,  constituted  him  guardian  of  the  infant 
prince,  while  botli  Fram-e  and  England  were  enfeebled 
by  the  crusade,  and  by  mutually  threatened  war.  No 
other  pontiff  ever  realized  to  the  same  extent  tlie  Gre- 
gorian idea  of  tlie  papacy.  King  John  of  England  wlio 
attempted  to  disi-egard  liis  mandate,  was  brouglit  to  sub- 
mission l)y  an  interdict,  laid  upon  his  kingdom,  and  was 
restored  only  n|)on  accepting  his  crown  as  a  gift  of  the 
pope,  and  recognizing  England  as  a  pi'ovince  of  the 
Roman  8ee.  This  le(f  to  trie  meeting  of  tlie  barons  at 
Runny mede,  1215,  and  the  drawing  up  of  the  Marina 
(Viarta,  wliic-h  they  conjpelled  their  unworthy  king  to 
sign,  as  some  security  then  and  afrerwai'ds  against  such 
alienation  of  themselves  and  their  country. 

Innocent  III.  also  organized  a  crusade.  It  never 
reached  Palestine,  but  instead  of  that,  beseiged  and  took 
Constantino|)le,  in  1204,  and  set  up  there  a  Latin  King.  /  .,  ,( 
Whereupon  the  pope  reasserted  liis  jurisdiction  in  the  U-  S>Vi^' 
eastern  empij^e ;  but  without  obtaining  acknowledg- 
ment by  the  Greek  church.  The  most  successful  crusade 
of  Innocent  III.  was  that  against  the  Albigenses :  a 
numerous  dissenting  sect,  in  the  south  of  France.  Rom- 
isli  arguments  failing  to  convince  them,  armies  were 
marched  into  their  country,  which  in  successive  years, 
from  1209,  covered  it  with  slaugliter  and  desolation. 

In  1215,  Innocent  called  a  council  in  Rome,  the  fourth 
Lateran,  oi-,  according  to  Romisli  reckoning,  the  twelfth 
ecunenical,  at  which  various  important  questions  per- 
taining to  Romish  doctrine  and  practice  were  authorita- 
tively   settled.      At    that     point    Papalism   reached    the 


116 

apex  of  its  prosperity,  luiioceiit  died  next  year,  l»nt 
where  lie  left  it  the  elevation  of  sucees!?  remained  station- 
ary through  all  tlie  reign  of  his  successor,  Ilonori  us  III., 
that  is  until  1227.  The  imperious  ill  temi)er  of  Gregory 
IX.,  renewed  the  vexatious  quarrel  witli  the  empii'c,  and 
led  the  way  in  a  course  of  policy  which  ultimately 
reduced  it,  but  also  dragged  into  humiliation  his  own 
otKce. 

Frederic  II.  was  constrained  to  undertake  a  crusade. 
Because  he  delayed  in  carrying  it  out  Gregory  excom- 
municated him  :  and  after  he  set  out  followed  him  witli 
excommunication.  Frederic  was  successful,  recaptured 
Jerusalem,  and  secured  a  treaty  of  peace  for  the  christ- 
ians of  Palestine  for  ten  years;  but  foutid,  on  returning 
(yvu.c^r^  home   tluit   he   ha(]    to  wage  war  with    the  Pope.     From 

this  time,  it  was  the  |)apal  jjurpose  to  break  (U)wn  the 
Sual)ian  dynasty,  and  secure  the  election  of  more  com- 
pliant occupants  of  the  im}>erial  throne.  Unrelentingly 
was  that  ]>olicy  pursued  until,  after  the  early  death 
of  Frederic's  successor,  Conrad,  in  1254,  another 
minority  and  regency  occurred.  Advantage  was  taken 
of  that  junctuie  to  invite  Charles  of  Anjou  to  assume 
possession  of  Sicily.  The  attempt  of  the  young  Coii- 
radin  to  defend  his  tathei''s  dominion  failed.  And  the 
last  heir  of  the  Holienstaufen  taken  prisoner  perislied  on 
the  scaffold,  (1268),  and  Charles  of  Anjou,  brotlier  of 
Louis  IX.  of  France,  became  king  of  Sicily  in  the  papal 
interest.  Five  years  later,  tlie  equally  papal  house  of 
-^  Hapsburg    was    elevated    to   the   throne    of  the    greatly 

^Af uaJ  reduced  em[)ire,  in  tlie  person  of  Iludol[t]i. 

But  already  the  long  train  of  pajtal  losses  liad  begun. 
In  1261,  the  Greeks,  under  Michael  Paheologus,  recovei'ed 
possession  of  Constantinople  and  expelled  the  Latin  gov- 
ernment. A  subsequent  attempt,  at  the  council  of  Lyons, 
1274,  Xo  establish  papal  jurisdiction  in  the  east,  was 
agreed  to  by  the  eastern  emperor,  but  defeated  by 
the  refusal  of  the  Greek  Charch  to  comply.  The  attempt 
gave  rise  to  other  fabrications  in  support  of  the  Payacy. 
French  rule  in  Sicily  proved  intensely  unpojnilar. 
It  was  expelled  by  the  insurrection,  called  the  Sicilian 
Vespers,  Marcli  30,  1282,  and  the  government  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  Kiuif  of  Araffon. 


117 

Tlie  seventh  and  last  Crnsade  to  Palestine  was  led  bv 
Louis  IX.  of  France  and  Prince  Edward  of  Eiiirlandin 
1270.  Louis  died  at  Tunis.  Edward  reached  Palestine, 
hut  could  only  delay  the  fate  of  Acre,  by  exortinjj-a  truce 
of  three  years.  In  1291  Acre  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Mohaniinedans,  and  the  wliole  was  over. 

The  crusades  were  the  wars  of  the  Papacy  for  its  own 
cause  when  that  cause  was  identified  with  the  interests 
of  Chiistiunity  in  the  west.  Their  termination  was  not 
only  the  loss  of  an  effective  weapon,  but  also  a  symptom 
of  declining  influence  over  the  christian  public. 

r>ut  a  more  serious  calamity  befel  the  Papacy  in  the 
the  dispute  which  arose  between  Boniface  VIII.  and 
I'hilip  the  fair,  King  of  France,  in  which  the  King,  on 
piinciples  of  law,  resisted  a  Papal  mandate,  and  when  the 
l*ope  attemiited  to  enforce  it,  sent  a  commission  into 
Italy,  which  arrested  him.  The  indignity  so  affected 
Boniface  as  to  throw  him  into  a  fever,  of  which  lie  died 
Oct.  11,  1803.  The  next  Pontiff,  Benedict  XL  did  not 
press  the  offensive  demands;  and  after  his  death.  King 
Philip  succeeded  in  getting  liis  own  candidate  elected 
who  was  pledged  to  remain  in  France.  Clement 
V.  took  u})  his  residence  at  Avignon,  in  1305.  And 
the  proudest  days  of  the  papacy  were  over. 

In  the  Papal  history  of  this  period  there  was  more 
concerned  than  superstition  and  submission,  on^  the  one 
hand,  and  ambition  on  the  other.  There  was  extraordi- 
nary intellectual  power,  and  an  unscrupulous  use  of  both 
force  and  fraud,  and  that  continued  with  little  abatement, 
or  exception,  for  two  hundred  and  lifty  years.  The  series 
of  events  maybe  comprehended  under  the  following 
heads. 

1.  Reform  and  reorganization  of  the  Papacv,  1054 — 
1085. 

2.  Its  first  success,  in  war  with  the  Empire,  by  means 
of  the  first  crusade,  1099. 

3.  Its  success  in  the  controversy  about  investitures, 
1122. 

4.  A  long  period  of  power  balanced  between  the  ris- 
ing free  spirit  of  I^orthern  Italy,  the  iJ^ormans  of  the 
South,  and  the  German  empire,  sustained  at  great  junc- 
tures bv  the  second  and  third  crusades  until,  1198. 


118 

5.  The  summit  of  success  under  Innocent  [II.  and 
HonoriusIIL,  1198-1227. 

6.  Tlie  strife  for  supreme  temi^orul  power  witli  the 
imperial  dynast\'  of  Suabia,  until  the  overtlirow  of  the 
hitter,  and  elevation  of  the  obedient  iKMise  of  Hapsbui'o;, 
1227-1273. 

7.  Papal  losses — loss  of  Constantinople,   1261. 
Failure  of  tlie  plan  of  union    devised    at    the   council    of 

Lyons,  1274-1282. 
Loss  ensuing  from  the  Sicilian  Vespers,  1282. 
Final  failure  of  the  Crusades,  1291. 
The  disastrous  controversy  with  Philii>  the  Fair,  endins; 

in  the  removal  from  Rome,  1305. 
2.  With  the  schools,  founded  or  patronized  by 
Charlema2;ne,  there  were  always  connected  some  men  of 
letters.  During  the  tenth  rentury,  and  tirst  half  of  the 
eleventh,  the  series  was  very  slender.  Through  Erigena, 
Gottschalk,  Paschasius  Radbert,  and  a  few  others,  in  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century;  Hincmar  and  Ratramnus, , 
in  the  latter  part  of  it,  the  line  is  barely  continued  by  a 
few  such  men  as  Luitprand  of  Cremona,  and  Ratheriu? 
of  Verona,  to  Gerhert,  (Pope  Sylvester  II.)  who  died  in 
the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  Fulbert  of 
Chartres,  who  flourished  in  its  first  quarter.  Towards 
the  middle  of  the  century,  a  little  more  literary  effort  be- 
gati  to  appear.  Then  we  read  of  Humbert,  Peter  Dami- 
ani,  Lanfranc,  Berengarius,  and  Ilildebrand,  (Pope  Gre- 
ory  VII.),  in  the  course  of  whose  lives,  we  come  to  that 
class  of  writers  called  Schoolmen,  or  Scholastics,  and 
who  were,  at  the  same  time,  the  philosophers  and  theo- 
logians of  the  Middle  ages. 

True  scholasticism  was  the  application  of  logic,  witli 
a  peculiar  subtlety  to  the  dogmas  of  the  Romish  church. 
Earlier  christian  writers  had  (h-awn  their  philosophy 
chiefly  from  Plato  ;  now  the  Platonic  elements  were  com- 
prehended in  and  subjected  to  Aristotelian  methods,  as 
far  as  the  latter  were  known  through  the  partial  transla- 
tion of  Boethius  :  for  Aristotelian  induction  seems  to 
have  been  unknown. 

Augustinian  theology  was  their  recognized  orthodoxy. 
But  the  practical  teaching  of  the  church,  which,  on  some 


119 

points  had  departed  tVom  that  staiKhird,  controlled  the 
arguments  of  most  of  them.  Some  advanced  (h)ctrine8 
wliich  were  censured  as  heretical,  hut  \n  the  main,  scholas- 
tics were  the  adv'ocates  of  the  cliurch  as  it  then  stood. 

The  iiistory  of  that  class  of  writers  hegins  properly 
in  the  course  oi'  controversy  on  the  Eucharist,  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  At  that  (hite,  a  zeal- 
ous opp(^nent  of  transul)stantiation  was  Bereugarius 
hishop  of  Tours.  The  suhject  was  still  an  open  (piestion, 
in  as  far  as  any  adequate  authority  was  concened.  Tt  had 
heen  decided  only  by  popular  consent.  Bereugarius, 
from  about  1045,  publicly  taught  that  the  bread  and  wine 
in  the  Eucharist  are  only  external  symbols  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood.  His  argument  was  immediately  con- 
troverted by  several  writers,  who  advocated  the  popular 
belief  that  in  consecration  by  the  priest,  the  sacramental 
elements  became  the  real  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord. 
Berengarius  was  condemned  in  1050,  by  no  less  than 
three  councils,  at  Rome,  Vercelli,  and  Paris.  He  was 
deprived  of  liis  revenues  and  degraded.  Subsequently, 
Po[)e  Victor  H.  was  induced  to  send  legates  to  Tours  to 
investigate  the  matter.  On  one  of  those  occasions, 
the  legate  was  Hildebrand,  who  seems  to  have  been 
disposed  to  treat  the  subject  leniently.  But  the  clergy 
as  a  whole  were  not  satisfied.  Berengarius  was  after- 
wards brought  to  trial  before  a  council  at  Rome,  where  a 
definite  statement  of  doctrine  was  prescribed  for  him  to 
sign.  Pie  submitted  ;  but  afterwards  repented  of  the 
.submission,  and  held  to  his  former  doctrine.  He  died 
in  1088. 

It  was  in  this  controversy  that  Laiifranc,  prior  of  Bee, 
and  subsequenti}'  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  taking  up 
the  defence  of  transubstantiation,  employed  that  sub- 
tlety of  dialetics,  which  was  carried  to  greater  length  by 
a  long  array  of  writers  who  came  t\fter  him.  In  the 
hands  of  Anselm,  his  immediate  successor  in  Canterbury, 
1093 — 1109,  it  reached  its  early  maturity  and  perhaps  its 
best. 

The  historv  of  scholasticism  divides  itself  into  three 
periods  :  from"  1045  to  1164,  from  1164  to  1308,  and  from 
1308   until   the  eve  of  tlie  reformation.     The  first,  from 


120 

the  beginuiiig  of  the  controvei'sy  with  Berengarins,  until 
the  death  of  Peter  Lombard,  1164,  labored  in  lectures 
and  controversial  tracts.  A  new  period  opened  in  tlie 
very  general  adoi»tion  of  Peter  Lombard's  Book  of  Sen- 
tences as  a  guide  for  lecturers  on  theology,  whereby 
scholasticism  was  turned  to  the  systematic  treatment  of 
the  whole  l)ody  of  theology,  Li  that , direction  its  high- 
est results  were  reached  in  the  works  of  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas, and  Duns  Scotus.  With  the  death  of  the  latter, 
1308,  begins  the  period  of  scholastic  decline,  during 
which  it  was  also  gradually  overmastered  by  the  reviving 
classic,  and  the  broader  growth  of  modern  literature 

An  inner  controversy,  on  Philosophic  ground,  early 
divided  scholastics  into  two  parties  as  Realists  and  Nom- 
inalists. Nominalism  soon  fell  under  censure  of  the 
church,  and  gave  place  to  a  moditication,  which  is  better 
named  conceptualism.  Realism  was  favored  by  the 
church. 

Another  division,  on  the  ground  of  faith,  separated 
among  tliem,  the  Rationalist  from  the  Mystic,  as,  for  ex- 
amjde,  Abelard  from  Bernard,  and  from  both,  a  media- 
ting party,  as  the  Theologians  of  St.  Victor.  In  their 
later  history,  they  were  divided  also  between  Franciscan 
Hud    Dominican    monks. 

The  progress  of  Scholasticism  carried  with  it  the 
improvement  of  the  schools,  which  from  the  poor  con- 
ventual instruction  of  the  eleventh  century  was  expanded 
until  it  blossomed  into  tlie  Universities  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth. 

Scholastic  freedom  of  speculation  lay  in  treatment  of 
l»oints  concerning  which  Scripture  gives  only  indistinct 
liints.  and  the  church  had  yet  pronounced  no  positive 
dogma,  but  they  also  analysed  with  apparent  freedom 
every  doctrine  of  the  creed.  And  some  ventured  into  a 
bolder  freedom,  which  exposed  them  to  heresy.  David 
of  Diuant,  for  example,  and  Amalric  of  Bena  were  by 
their  method  of  thinking  led  into  Pantheism,  ajul  other 
])hilosophical  errors. 

On  some  points  their  conclusions  prepared  the  way 
for  the  authoritative  adoption,  as  dogmas,  of  wdiat  had 
previously  been  only  optional  beliefs  ;  as  in  the  case  of 


121 

works  of  supererogation  ;  tlio  luiiiiber  of  the  sacriuneiits, 
definition  of  the  doctrine  of  penance  and  of  priestly  ai)S()- 
lution,  and  ti-ansnl)stantiation. 

Tlie  more  eminent  Scliolasties  carried  forward  phil- 
osophy in  a  real  progress,  beyond  all  that  had  ever  been 
done  before,  in  its  relations  to  theology  ;  profoundly 
weighing  the  philosopliical  ini[>ort  of  doctrines  :  and 
although  much  trifling  may  l)e  cpiotcd  from  their  later 
writers,  yet  to  the  laboi's  of  Abelard,  of  Peter  Lomliaid, 
of  Bonaventura,  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  others,  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  we  owe  the  first  kind- 
ling of  modern  Europe  to  intellectual  pursuits,  the  first 
scattering  of  liglit  into  the  depths  of  medijieval  darkness, 
the  first  [)hilosophy  which  westei'n  Europe  could  call  lier 
own,  and  the  first  classification  in  scientific  form  of 
christian  theology. 

Some  of  the  Scholastics  also  opened  the  wa}'  to  mod- 
ern scientific  investigation.  Such  were  Albertus  Magnus 
and  Roger  Bacon. 

3.  During  the  satne  period  the  principal  part  of  the 
work  was  done  for  the  Canon  Law  which  conferred  upon 
it  the  completness  of  its  form.  About  the  middle  of  the 
12th  century,  the  Decretum  of  Gratian  issued  from  tlie 
celebrated  law  University  of  Bologna.  Subsequenth' 
large  collections  from  the  decretals  of  later  pop«s  were 
added  to  it,  under  the  names  of  Decretals  and  Extrava- 
gantes.     And  thus  grew  up  the  Corpus  Juris  Canonici. 

4.  Various  councils  successively  gave  their  sanction 
to  elements  of  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship,  which 
had  previously  grown  up  among  the  people,  and  in  ec- 
clesiastical practice.  Of  those  the  most  important  was 
the  Fourth  Lateran,  which  confirmed  the  policy  of  Inno- 
cent, III.,  established  the  practice  of  indulgence,  and  the 
doctrine  of  works  of  supererogation,  of  confession  to  a 
priest  as  indispensable  to  obtaining  pardon  of  sin,  and 
of  transubstantiation  as  belonging  to  the  creed  of  the 
church,  and  the  duty  of  exterminating  heretics. 

5.  Attempts  were  made,  from  time  to  time,  to  restore 
union  between  the  Greek  and  Roman  catholic  churches, 
but  without  eflect.  The  moat  strenuous  effort  to  that 
end  was  made  at  the   council   of  Lyons,  in   1274.     The 


122 

Pope  and  the  Greek  Emperor  with  some  bisliops  were 
agreed.  But  nothing  could  bend  the  Greek  church  into 
compliance.  After  trying  for  a  few  years  by  severe  mea- 
sures, to  constrain  his  people,  the  Emperor  acknowledged 
his  discomfiture;  and  Rome  ignored  the  compact  which 
could  not  be  carried  into  efleet.  As  soon  as  the  emperor 
died,  1282,  the  Greek  church  formally  repudiated  the 
whole  plan  of  reunion,  and  severely  censured  all  who  had 
in  any  way  been  concerned  in  it. 

6.  During  the  period  of  the  schoolmen,  the  literature 
of  the  Greek  church  continued  in  a  depressed  condition. 
The  schoolastics  were  the  fruit  of  reviving  intellectual 
activity  in  the  west  ;  were  themselves  the  beginning  of  a 
process  of  im[)rovement.  But  no  such  process  had  yet 
begun  in  the  east.  Literary  culture  had  not  descended 
so  low  in  that  quarter  ;  but  it  exhibited  no  such  signs  of 
a  new  vitality.  The  Eastern  Empire  was  still  protracting 
its  long  decline,  struggling  for  existence  with  the  Mo- 
hammedans. And  the  enei-gies  of  the  Greeks  were 
crushed  under  the  discouragements  of  their  adverse  for- 
tunes. Several  litei'ary  names  of  distinction  appear 
among  them  ;  but  none  as  connected  with  any  original 
line  of  thought.  Most  w^orth}^  of  mention  were  The- 
ophylact  archbishop  of  Bulgaria,  d.  1112,  commentator 
on  several  books  of  Scripture;  John  Zonaras,  one  of  the 
best  of  the  Byzantine  historians,  and  Eustathius,  arch- 
bishop of  Thessalonica,  (d.  1198)  who,  besides  sermons, 
WM'ote  a  copious  and  valuable  commentary  on  Homer. 

7.  Among  the  churches  of  the  further  east  there  were 
also  some  writers  of  distinction.  Such  were  Ebed-Jesu 
(d.  1318)  metropolitan  of  Nisibis,  among  the  Nestorians  ; 
Nerses  (d.  1173)  among  the  Armenians,  and  Dionysius 
Bar  Silibi,  bishop  of  Amida,  d.  1171,  among  the  Jacob- 
ites ;  in  which  connection  appears  also  the  more  illustri- 
ous name  of  Abulfarage  (Bar  Hebraeus)  (d.  1286),  and 
that  of  George  Elmacin,  historian  of  the  Saracens. 

8.  With  the  Jews  this  was  a  period  of  great  scholar- 
ship, when  Solomon  larchi  (d.  1105)  of  Troyes,  Aben 
Ezra  of  Toledo  (d.  1167),  David  Kimchi  of  Narbonne 
(d.  about  1230),  and  Moses  Ben  Maimon,  or  Maimonides, 
(d.  1205)  of  Cordova,  labored  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
Old  Testament. 


123 

9.  It  was  also  the  fioiirisliiiig  period  of  that  Arabic 
[thilosophy,  which  had  no  little  to  do  with  tlie  revival  of 
philosophical  studies  in  the  christiaii  west,  Aviceniia  died 
in  1036  ;  Al  Gazali  in  1127,  and  Averoes  in  1217.  Upon 
the  whole  there  was  an  extensive  qnickenins;  of  intellect 
in  tlie  direction  c)f  pl)i]osoi)liy. 

10.  Among  the  monasteries  irregularities  again  pre- 
vailed. Before  the  twelfth  century  had  far  advanced, 
even  Cluny  had  itself  liad  begun  to  degenerate.  Great 
efforts  were  made  to  restore  discipline,  and  to  set  up 
new  monasteries  with  severer  rules.  Some  of  the  orders 
were  suppressed  on  account  of  their  scandalous  immo- 
rality. Still,  the  conviction  prevailed  that  the  proper 
way  to  correct  these  evils  was  to  establish  new  orders  on 
a  better  plan.  Pope  Innocent  III.,  thought  proper  to 
interfere,  and  forbade  the  creation  of  any  more  orders  : 
and  the  Lateran  council  of  1215  took  action  to  same  effect. 
I^otwithstanding,  two  othei-  orders  were  sanctioned  un- 
der his  rule,  and  established  socmi  afterwards,  which 
proved  of  more  influence  in  the  church  and  in  the  world 
than  all  the  preceding  had  been. 

The  active  apostolic  piety  and  missionary  labor  of  the 
poor  Waldensian  ministers,  and  the  progress  of  dissent- 
ing opinions  in  the  south  of  France,  and  adjoining  dis- 
tricts, arrested  the  attention,  and  alarmed  the  fears  of  the 
Romish  ecclesiastics.  Dominic  of  Osma  in  Spain,  and 
Francis  of  Assisi,  in  Italy,  about  the  same  time,  conceiv- 
ed of  similar  plans  for  the  conversion  of  those  so  called 
heretics.  Francis  began  in  1207  to  assemble  about  him 
a  body  of  men,  whom  he  solemnly  laid  undei-  obligation 
to  forego  all  earthly  possessions,  enjoyments  and 
knowledge,  and  devote  themselves  solely  to  travel- 
ling, and  preaching  the  doctrines  of  Rome.  They  were 
to  be  called  the  Ordo  Fratrum  Mworum.  As  such  they 
received  the  Oral  sanction  of  Innocent  III.,  in  1209,  and 
were  fully  established  by  Honorius  III.,  in  1223.  After 
their  example,  an  order  of  nuns  was  instituted,  that  of 
Sta.  Clara,  with  a  regula  drawn  np  by  Francis.  He  also 
organized  an  Ordo  terthis  de.  Pccnitentki,  for  pious  laymen, 
who  living  in  their  own  houses,  and  enjoying  their  own 
property,  with  their  families,  maintained  a  sort  of  spirit- 
ual union  under  a  superior. 


7  ^J  {u<. 


124 


Dominic,  who  had  been  employed  from  1205  in  try- 
ing to  convert  the  Albigenses,  by  preaching,  conceived  a 
similar  idea.  It  was  that  of  an  order,  which,  unincum- 
bered by  property,  should  travel  through  that  country 
preaching  the  doctrines  of  the  catholic  church.  In  1215 
the  plan  was  proposed  to  Innocent  III.  who  would  grant 
it  nothing  more  than  his  oral  permission.  But  it  was 
fully  sanctioned  next  year  by  Honorius  III.,  under  the 
name  of  the  Ordo  Predicatonan.  Monks  of  that  order  are 
more  commonly  called,  by  the  name  of  their  founder, 
Dominican,  or  from  their  garb,  Black  Friars;  as  the  or- 
der of  Francis  is  generally  called  Franciscan,  or  Minor- 
ites, or  Grey  Friars.  The  Dominicans  also  constituted 
Tertiaries. 

These  were  the  principal  mendicant  orders,  Ijy  whom 
preaching,  long  neglected  in  the  catholic  church,  was 
revived.  Indirectly  they  conapired  with  the  lecturers  in 
the  schools  to  promote  the  awakening  spirit  of  inquiry, 
relatively  doing  for  the  populace  a  work  similar  to  what 
the  lecturers  were  accomplishing  in  the  schools.  Ulti- 
mately, they  became  also  the  lecturers,  and  occupied  the 
most  prominent  places  as  scholastic  writers.  Departing 
in  course  of  time  from  their  original  design,  they  de- 
parted also  from  the  rule  of  poverty.  On  that  subject 
the  Franciscans  divided.  Tlie  stricter  party  adViering 
to  the  rule,  formed  themselves  into  a  separate  order, 
which  received  the  name  of  Fraiicelli 

11.  About  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  sprang 
up,  in  some  towns  in  the  Netherlands,  societies  of  women, 
who  without  monastic  vows,  lived  together  under  rules 
of  their  own  adoption,  and  maintained  themselves  from 
their  own  property.  They  were  called  Beguinae.  Dur- 
ing the  thirteenth  century,  they  increased  in  France  and 
Germany,  as  well  as  in  the  iSTetherlands,  to  a  great  num- 
ber. 

iSimilar  societies  were  also  formed  of  men,  and  those 
who  belonged  to  them  were  called  Beguini,  or  Beghards. 
Latterly  they  connected  themselves  with  the  tertiary  or- 
ders of  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans. 

Through  the  mendicant  preaching  orders  and  their 
tertiaries.  the  cloister  opened  its  doors  to  the  world. 


125 


12.  Tlie  clergy  claimed  exemption  from  triiil  by  civil 
tribuiuilH,  and  the  popes  labored  zealously  to  withdraw 
tlieiii  altogether  from  secular  jurisdiction.  Only  eccle- 
Biastical  courts  were  held  competent  to  try  them.  And 
from  all  tribunals  they  claimed  the  right  of  ajtpeal  to  the 
pope.     In  few  countries  were  those  claims  fully  realized. 

13.  From  various  causes,  great  wealth  came  into  the 
hands  of  ecclesiastics,  leading  to  much  conflict  between 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  authorities. 

14.  In  the  course  ef  tlie  twelfth  century,  the  Latin 
church,  in  administering  the  Eucharist,  gradually,  in  one,,  ,     , 

place  after  another,  adopted  the  practice  of  withholding' ^j<^c>  ^j^jed  t^  ^ 
the  cup  from  the  laity.     Pope  Pascal  II.  opposed  inno-  /^<iJ-^^  ^^  ^^^ 
vation,  and  ordered  that  the  bread  and   wine  should   be  '   -^   ^i6hi<.'CL^^^ 
both  administered.     After  his  time,  the  opposite  opinion    /j^'   b^tx, 
gained  ground.     By  the  Greek  church  the  sacramental  ^ 

elements  were  mingled. 

15.  yigns  of  intellectual  activity  began  to  appear 
among  tlie^^eople,  as  well  as  in  the  church  schools.  They 
consisted  chictiy  in  the  rise  of  religious  dissent,  and  of 
an  incipient  popular  literature. 

Tlie    varieties    of  religious    dissent    may   be   classed 
under  the  heads  of  Paulicians,  Cathari,  Waldenses,  and         ^ 
independent  orders.  ^  .     /T,,^, 

10.  The  Paulicians,  in  their  long  persecution  in  the  -^--y'-^-^  '"^  (yVrvt 
ninth  century,  were  scattered  to  both  east  and  west,  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  the  Greek  empire.  At  tlie  end  of 
those  sufferings,  a  considerable  number  of  them  were 
found  resident  among  the  Slavic  population  on  the  lower 
Danube.  Whence  it  is  probable  they  spread  their  doc- 
trines further  west,  and  in  more  tolerant  times  found 
their  way  back  into  the  emi)ire.  In  the  reign  of  Alexius 
Comnenus  (1081 — 1118)  the  city  of  Philippopolis  in 
Thrace  was  entirely  under  their  influence.  That  em- 
peror undertook  to  convert  them;  and  removed  his  resi- 
dence, for  a  time,  to  Philippopolis,  with  that  view.  By 
force  of  authority,  by  persuasion,  and  rewards  to  those 
who  professed  themselves  convinced  by  his  arguments, 
he  succeeded  in  reducing  the  heresy  in  that  region.  But 
instead  of  it  another  arose.  For  a  long  time  before,  a 
party  had  exigted  among  them,  called  Euchitea,  or  Mes- 


126 

salians,  wlie  liad  exercised  some  iniiueuce  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  Paiilician  doctrine.  From  that  connection 
arose  the  Bogomili,  who  made  theii-  first  appearance  in 
tlie  hitter  years  of  the  same  Emperor.  In  1116  Alexins 
ohtained  tlie  confidence  of  their  leader  Basilius.  by  a 
treacherous  artifice,  and  put  him  to  death.  But  the  sect 
maintained  its  ground  within  the  empire,  especially 
about  Philippopolis. 

17.  In  their  peculiar  doctrines  and  customs,  the  Bogo- 
mili agi-eed  closely  with  those  of  the  Cathari  of  the  west 
of  Europe.  That  roUitionship  is  also  sustained  histori- 
cally. It  is  admitted  that  the  Cathari  proceeded  from 
the  Sclavonians  of  Bulgaria,  at  least  as  early  as  tlie  mid- 
dle of  the  eleventh  centui'y :  and  had  extended  their 
societies  to  almost  every  country  of  Eui'ope,  before  they 
were  discovered.  From  Bulgaria  they  spread  into 
Thrace,  and  became  a  large  sect  even  in  Constantinople. 
Also  into  Dalmatia  and  Albania,  where  they  were  called 
Albanenses.  Westward  they  gained  converts  in  large 
numbers,  as  far  as  the  Netherlands,  England,  France, 
Spain,  and  Italy.  In  France,  thej^  were  frequently  called 
the  Oi'do  Bnlgarice^  or  Bidf/ari,  Gallicised  into  various 
abbreviations.  In  some  places,  they  were  called  Fopli- 
cani,  Patarhia,  or  Passagicrl.  They  divided  the  popular 
faith  in  Provence  with  the  Waldenses.  In  Lombardy 
and  Florence,  in  the  States  of  the  Church,  in  Calabria 
and  Sicily,  Catharian  congregations  existed  for  a  long 
time.  But  it  was  in  Lombardy  and  the  South  of  France 
whei'e  they  were  strongest.  The  Albigenses  were  both 
Waldensian  and  Catharian.  As  early  as  1022,  persons  of 
Catharian  views  were  burned  to  death  at  Orleans. 

18.  Touching  the  origin  of  the  Waldenses,  there  is 
difference  of  opinion.  But  we  know  that  they  are  men- 
tioned as  existing  among  the  Alps  in  the  twelfth  century, 
and  not  as  a  new  sect  at  that  time.  -  Their  name  is  not 
derived  from  that  of  a  man,  but  from  their  place  of  resi- 
dence in  certain  valleys  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  on  the 
Italian  side.  Their  eastern  border  is  about  thirty  miles 
in  a  southwest  direction  from  Turin.  Their  records  have 
been  sought  out  to  be  destroyed,  with  persevering  malig- 
nity by  their  enemies. 


127 

By  Catholic  writers  tiieir  (locti'ines  were  ii^reatly  mis- 
re{)resente(l.  But  more  favored  than  most  sects  of  that 
time,  they  survive  to  speak  for  themselves.  They  liold 
suhstaiitially  the  same  views  of  scripture  truth  as  are 
held  by  Evangelical  Protestants. 

In  Northern  Italy,  Catharian  doctrine  Together  with 
the  opinions  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  coincided  with  the 
efibrts  of  the  Lombards  to  wrest  their  freedom  from  the 
Po[)e  and  Emperor. 

19.  Among  dissenting  orders  we  must  include  the 
stricter  branch  of  the  Franciscans,  the  Fraticelli,  who 
opposed  as  firmly  as  any  others,  the  worldliness  and 
luxury  prevailing  in  the  church,  and  incurred  as  much 
persecution,  with  the  Beguina'  and  Beghards,  and 
Apostolicals,  besides  certain  fanatical  orders,  which  were 
early  suppressed. 

20.  In  order  to  complete  the  work  of  exterminating 
heretics,  begun  with  such  feai-ful  scenes  of  l)loodshed  in 
the  crusade  agai'.ist  tlie  Albigenses,  and  to  organize  a 
system  whereby  the  church  should  always  eradicate  the 
first  appearance  of  heresy,  it  was  made  the  business  of 
the  Diocesan  Synods  to  search  out  and  punish  every  be- 
ginning of  <livei'gence  from  the  faith  of  Rome.  Every 
Archbishop  and  Bishop  was  directed  to  visit,  either 
personally  or  through  some  suitable  agent,  the  parish  of 
his  diocese,  in  which  any  heretics  were  reported  to  be, 
and  to  put  under  oatli  any  of  the  inhabitants  whom  he 
chose,  to  i)oint  out  the  suspected.  Refusal  to  take  the 
oath  justified  the  sus].»icion  of  heresy.  This  first  form  of 
the  Inquisition  was  the  plan  of  Innocent  III.,  and  enact- 
ed as  law  by  the  fourth  Lateran  council,  1215.  An  im- 
portant   change   was  made   under  Gregory  IX.,  by   the 

Council  of  Toulouse,  in  1229,  whereby  the  task  was  taken  ^  ,  •  v  i^^^  ,-/^ 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  bishops,  by  the  appointment  pf '^.^'^*^w  ^Q,..j^^'t:?^ 
Dominican  monks  to  be  permanent  inquisitors.  ^  <Oj  ^  tIlSo^X^^^*^'*' 

21.  The  Holy  Scriptures  were  now  forbidden  to  the  ^         '^        ^» 
laity.     In  the  ancient  church  their  use  was   free   to   all, 

and  to  part  with  them  was  held  by  Christians  as  almost 
equivalent  to  denying  their  Savior.  But  in  tlie  lapse  of 
ages,  Catholic  practice  had  departed  so  far  from  gospel 
precept,  that  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  withhold  from 


128 

the  people  the  means  of  comparing  tliem.  That  step  was 
first  taken  by  the  Greek  catholic  church  in  controversy 
with  the  Paiilicians,  in  the  ninth  century.  In  the  west, 
it  was  ordered  by  Innocent  III.,  in  1199,  and  by  the 
council  of  Toulouse  in  1229. 

22.  It  was  in  that  belt  of  country  consisting  of  north- 
ern Italy,  southern  France,  and  the  north  of  Spain  tliat 
the  modern  languages  of  continental  Europe  were  first 
trained  to  the  service  of  literature.  That  early  literature 
consisted  cliiefly  of  sotigs,  called  lays,  and  sung  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  harp  ;  and  those  who  composed 
theni  were  Troubadours.  The  south  of  France  was  its 
centre  and  its  head  quarters  were  the  courts  of  the 
counts  of  Provence  and  of  Toulouse.  The  dialects 
throughout  that  belt  of  country  were  intimately  related. 
From  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century 
the  Troubadour  literature  liad  been  unfolding  towards 
its  proper  maturity.  The  twelfth  century  was  its  meri- 
dian ;  and  it  was  apparently  about  to  issue  in  something 
greater,  when  it  was  abrufitly  terminated  by  the  crusade 
against  the  Albigenses.  A  modification  of  it  was  patron- 
ized, until  a  later  date,  at  the  court  of  Arragon,  and  by 
some  of  the  Kings  of  Castile,  and  some  of  the  i)rinces  in 
northern  Italy. 

23.  The  forms  of  that  style  of  popular  song  were 
transferred  to  the  Latin,  and  used  in  the  service  of  reli- 
gion. Specimens  of  rhymed  Latin  verse  can  be  adduced 
from  earlier  time;  but  the  true  history  of  rhymed  Latin 
hvmns  begins  with  the  eleventh  century,  a-nd  the  best  of 
such  productions  belong  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth. 

The  latest  lays  of  the  Troubadours  fell  upon  the 
youthful  ear  of  Dante,  who  deeply  imbued  with  their 
lyrical  spirit,  and  versed  in  the  Latin  hymnology  and 
philosophy  of  the  schoolmen,  concentrated  the  best  liter- 
ary fruitkt  of  all  in  his  great  poem  the  Divina  Coin/nedia, 
and  therein  the  history  of  modern  literature  began. 
Dante  was  in  his  prime  when  the  paj^al  court  was  removed 
to  Avignon. 

VIII.      1305-1418. 

From  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  to  the 
beginning  of  the  iburteenth  was  the  period  of  mediaeval 


129 

ijrowth,  purclv  and  cliaracteristically  medieval.  The 
foiirteentli  I)eji;ins  to  proset)t  some  features  ol"  the  modern 
world.  From  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  the  papacy  to 
Avijrnon,  a  new  era  in  the  liistory  of  the  church  extends 
until  the  close  of  the  council  of  Constance,  that  is,  until 
1418.  The  period  thus  hounded  has  also  some  peculiar 
features  of  its  own.  Of  these  some  of  the  more  remark- 
able are,  the  declining  and  latterly  divided  state  of  the 
papai-y  ;  secondly,  the  increase  of  dissent;  thirdly,  the 
decline  of  dialectic  scholasticism,  and  increase  of  mysti- 
cism ;  fourthly,  the  increasing  power  of  national  hierarchy 
over  the  papal ;  fifthly,  the  revival  of  classical  learning 
and  taste,  and  sixthly,  the  rise  of  modern  literature  in 
the  Italian,  Spanish  and  English  languages. 

1.  By  means  of  reducing  the  German  empire,  the 
popes  had  done  much  to  liberate  the  cities  of  northern 
Italy,  and  to  build  up  the  growing  monarchy  of  France. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  14th  century,  France  had  no 
well  matched  rival,  among  the  monarchies  of  the  conti- 
nent, whom  tlie  popes  could  array  against  it.  At  Avig- 
non they  were  in  no  condition  to  assert  their  supremacy 
'  ver  it.  In  some  of  the  measures  of  King  Philip,  as  in 
the  ^luppression  of  the  Knights  Templars,  Clement  V.  was 
constiained  reluctantly  to  concur.  Seven  Popes  reigned 
successivelv  in  Avigm)n,  before  the  schism,  that  is, 
between  1305  and  ^1378,  Clement  V.,  .John  XXII., 
Benedict  XII.,  Clement  VI.,  Innocent  VL,  Urban  V., 
and  Gregory  XI. 

In  those  circumstances,  the  conflict  which  arose 
between  the  Popes  and  the  Emperor  Louis  of  Bavaria 
was  really  more  to  the  interest  of  the  French  monarchy 
than  to  that  of  the  {)apacy.  The  people  of  Germany  now 
sustained  their  emperor,  and  Charles  IV.,  elected  through 
papal  means,  was  constrained  to  take  refuge  in  France. 
The  interdict  was  laid  upon  Germany,  but  took  little 
effect.  When  Louis  died  in  1347,  Charles  had  to  regard 
his  former  election  invalid,  and  submit  to  be  elected  a 
second  time. 

In  1347  another  of  those  risings  took  place  in  Rome 
which  have  at  several  times  aimed  at  restoring  the 
glories  of  the  ancient  republic.      Nicholas  de  Rien'zi,  by 


130 

his  eloquence  and  enthusiasm,  made  himself  tribune  of 
the  people,  and  actually  governed  the  city  for  a  few 
years.  He  was  assassinated  in  1354,  and  the  whole  fabric 
he  had  erected  dissolved.  Cardinal  JEcridius  Albornoz 
reconquered  the  states  of  the  church,  and  brought  them 
back  to  papal  obedience.  But  the  existence  of  an  anti- 
papal  party  in  the  papal  dominions  was  thereby  declared 
with  even  more  boldness  than  in  the  days  of  Arnold  of 
Brescia. 

Urban  V.,  in  1367,  attempted  to  remove  his  residence 
back  to  Rome.  Various  causes  were  now  making  that 
step  desirable.  England  had  recovered  strength  under 
the  vigorous  rule  of  Edward  III.,  and  declined  payment 
of  the  required  submission  to  the  Pope,  and  of  the  tribute 
imposed  by  Innocent  III.  And  the  Pope's  position  in 
relation  to  France  went  to  justify  with  the  English  public 
the  acts  of  the  party  which  questioned  his  right  to  inter- 
fere in  their  national  affairs.  And  that  party  contained 
another  advocating  also  an  ecclesiastical  reform.  After 
thirty-three  years,  in  which  the  tribute  had  not  been 
paid.  Urban  V.,  in  1365,  made  a  demand  upon  the  King 
for  it  with  all  the  arrears.  Edward  referred  the  question 
to  his  parliament,  which  denied  the  validity  of  the  papal 
claim.  It  had  been  imposed  without  the  consent  of 
Parliament;  and  was  therefore  unlawful.  That  action 
was  defended  by  a  learned  ecclesiastic  John  of  Wyclitt". 
The  victories  of  Edward  III.,  and  of  his  son  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  had  reduced  the  French  monarchy  and  stripped 
it  of  nearly  half  its  dominions,  and  of  more  than  half  its 
power.  For  a  time  England  was  the  strongest  power  in 
western  Europe.  The  Pope  had  purchased  Avignon; 
but  the  condition  of  his  estates  in  Italy  seemed  to  demand 
his  presence  there.  Urban  V.  removed  tViither  in  1367, 
but  soon  returned  to  Avignon,  and  remained  there  until 
his  death.  During  his  pontificate  another  effort  was 
made,  in  compact  with  the  eastern  emperor,  John  Palse- 
ologus,  to  connect  the  Greek  with  the  Latin  church, 
which  was  rejected  by  the  Greeks. 

Urban  V.  died  in  1370,  and  was  succeeded  on  the 
papal  throne  by  Gregory  XL  Disorder  in  the  states  of 
the    church    continued    to    increase.       Gregory   became 


131 

t'nlly  convinced  that  at  all  hazards  he  oug^lit  to  return  to 
Koine;  which  lie  did  in  1377,  but  had  to  suhinit  to  open 
ncii^otiationH  with  his  enemies.  Peace  was  scarcely 
effected  at  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1378. 

The  cardinals  were  divided  in  opinion  on  the  subject 
of  returning  from  France.  Urban  VI.  was  elected  Pojie 
on  the  9th  of  April,  1378  by  16  cardinal.-*,  and  took  up 
his  residence  at  Rome.  But  his  intolerable  temper  and 
bearing  soon  alienated  those  who  had  been  his  friends. 
When  they  resisted  him,  he  created  26  new  cardinals  to 
outvote  them.  Whereupon  all  but  one  of  those  who 
elected  him  throwing  themselves  into  the  interest  of  the 
French  party,  and  withdrawing  to  Fondi,  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Naples,  elected  Robert  of  Geneva,  on  the  21st  of  Septem- 
ber that  same  year.  I'lie  new  Pofie,  as  Clement  YH  , 
resided  at  Avignon,  and  was  recognized  by  Fiance, 
Spain,  Scotland,  Sicily  and  Cyprus.  To  Urban  VI. 
adhered  Italy,  England,  Bohemia  and  Hungary.  In  this 
case  not  only  the  papacy  was  divided,  but  also  the  Latin 
church.  Each  of  the  two  Popes  held  his  ground  in  the 
hope  of  suppressing  the  other.  The  schism  gave  occa- 
sion to  great  increase  of  corruption,  and  disgraceful 
exhibition  of  animosity  between  the  parties  ;  and  both 
maintained  their  respective  papal  lines  by  subsequent 
elections.  At  Avignon  Clement  VII.  was,  in  1394.  fol- 
lowed l)y  Benedict  XIII.,  and  at  Rome,  in  1389  Boniface 
IX,  succeeded  UrbanVI.  and  reigned  until  1406.  Greg- 
ory XII.  was  then  elected  and  continued  in  office  until 
deposed  by  the  council  of  Constance,  1415. 

These  papal  disputes,  in  which  the  parties  were  always 
under  anatlierna  of  each  other,  were  felt,  in  many  quar- 
ters, to  be  a  scandal,  and  demands  for  the  adoption  of 
some  measures  of  reform  became  numerous  and  impor- 
tunate. In  that  movement  the  university  of  Paris  took 
the  lead.  But  in  England  and  Bohemia  there  were 
parties  more  radical  still,  who  talked  of  rejecting  the 
papal  yoke  altogether.  Both  Benedict  XIII.  and  Greg- 
ory XII.,  on  their  election,  promised  to  take  the  steps 
necessary  to  bring  the  schism  to  an  end;  but  both 
declined  to  abide  by  the  engagement.  In  1408,  their 
respective  councils  of  cardinals  abandoned  both  Popes 


182 

and  appealing  to  Christ,  a  general  ooniieil  and  a  future 
pope,  assembled  at  Leghorn.  Thence,  with  advice  of 
the  Universities,  they  issued  a  call  for  a  general  council 
to  meet  at  Pisa  in  1409.  In  that  council  there  were  24 
cardinals  of  both  papal  connections,  200  bisho|)s,  300 
abbots,  the  Universities  were  represented  by  120  Masters 
in  Theology,  and  300  graduates  of  civil  and  canon  law, 
and  the  state,  on  both  papal  interests,  by  the  envoys  of 
France  and  England.  The  council  took  the  ground 
defended  by  Gerson,  chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Paris,  that  by  its  constitution  under  Christ,  the  church 
was  independent  of  the  Pope,  and  acting  thereupon,  after 
a  regular  form  of  trial,  deposed  both  the  rival  Popes  for 
violation  of  theii'  solemn  obligation,  and  elected  a  new 
candidate,  Alexander  V.,  to  be  sole  Pope.  But  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  council,  Gregory  and  Benedict  both 
denying  its  validity  adhered  to  their  claims,  and  Alexan- 
der could  not  withdraw  from  his,  without  betraNnng  the 
cause  of  the  council.  And  so,  from  June  26,  1409,  there 
were  three  Popes,  all  regularly  elected,  according  to  one 
or  other  of  the  methods  which  had  at  different  periods 
been  accepted  as  valid  in  the  catholic  church. 

Alexander  V.  died  May  3,  1410,  and  John  XXIII. 
was  elected  in  his  stead  by  26  cardinals  at  Bologna,  with- 
in the  same  month.  Thus  the  Pope  of  Avignon,  though 
tlien  residing  in  Spain,  the  Pope  of  Rome,  and  the  Pope 
of  Bologna,  maintained  their  courts,  in  the  bitterest  hos- 
tility to  each  other,  for  seven  years. 

Constrained  by  the  Emperor  Sigismond,  the  Pope  of 
Bologna,  John  XXIIL,  consented  to  convoke  a  council 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Alps  for  the  purpose  of  settling 
this  difficulty  and  of  meeting  generally  the  urgent 
demand  for  ecclesiastical  reform,  which  came  from  all 
parts  of  Latin  Christendom.  That  council  met  at  Con- 
stance on  the  5th  of  November,  1414.  Not  much  was 
effected  for  reform,  but  the  papal  schism  was  brought  to 
an  end.  All  three  Popes  were  deposed,  and  another 
was  elected,  who  took  the  name  of  Martin  V.  The 
election  took  place  on  the  11th  of  November,  1417, 
Gregory's  resignation  had  been  secured  as  early  as  1415, 
John,    who    insisted     upon     retaining    the    portion     of 


y     f     •'^'^-•c^  ^-_<»-e^i^  ^     •^u-'L-f       '^  1/  J 


133 

papal  dominion  wliicli  adhered  to  him,  was  brought  to 
trial  for  positive  crimes,  thrown  into  prison  and  deposed. 
Benedict,  in  exile,  was  inaccessible,  and  althongli  deposed 
by  act  of  the  council,  held  his  ground  tenaciously;  and 
when  lie  died  in  14*24,  two  Cardinals  set  up  a  successor 
to  him,  as  Clement  VIII.  The  new  antipope  resigned  in 
1429,  and  thereby  the  great  pa[)al  schism  was  brought  to 
an  end. 

During  that  period  of  division,  the  papal  list  follows 
the  Roman  line,  until  1409.  It  tlien  passes  to  the  Pope 
set  up  b}'  the  council  of  Pisa  and  his  successor,  until  the 
deposition  uf  John  XXIII.  May  29,  1415.  From  that 
date  there  is  no  Pope  recognized  as  true  until  the  election 
of  Martin  Y.  November  11,  1417. 

The  council  of  Constance,  like  that  of  Pisa,  was  con- 
stituted on  the  principle  that  a  council  of  bishops,  repre- 
senting the  church  in  general,  is  independent  of  the 
Pope,  and  a  superior  authority.  The  members  adopted 
the  rule,  in  the  beginning,  that  they  should  vote  by 
nations,  whereby  a  check  was  applied  to  the  numerical 
majority  of  the  Italian  prelates.  The  nations  thus  repre- 
sented were  the  German,  the  Italian,  the  French,  the 
English,  and  the  Spanish  ;  the  cardinals  constituted  a 
section  by  themselves. 

Inasmuch  as  John  XXIII.  was  deposed  by  that  coun- 
cil, and  Martin  V.  set  up  by  it,  and  accepted  as  a  true 
Pope  by  all  the  Latin  church,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
practically  the  council  was  admitted  to  be  lawfully  com- 
petent to  do  wliat  it  had  done,  and  therefore  was  a  higher 
power  than  the  Pope;  a  court  before  which  Popes  could 
be  legally  tried.  And  if  that  is  rrue  of  the  council  of 
Constance,  it  must  be  true  of  any  council  so  consti- 
tuted. All  later  popes  are  in  the  line  of  succession  from 
Martin  V. 

2.  Great  corrupition  invaded  the  papal  court  at  Avig- 
non. The  guilt  of  simony  was  common.  Everything 
was  venal.  And  the  schism  instead  of  contracting  the 
extravagance,  doubled  it.  Popes  turned  the  revenues  of 
the  church  to  the  account  of  their  own  ambition.  Fees 
were  exacted  of  prelates  upon  their  consecration;  from 
many  benefices  the  income  of  a  year,  called   Annates, 


134 

was  exacted  by  the  Pope  before  a  new  incumbent  could 
receive  investiture  ;  and  taxes  were  levied  upon  the  pub- 
lic generally,  under  various  pretenses.  Money  was  also 
raised  by  sale  of  indulgences.  Papal  infallibility  had 
already  been  advocated  by  a  numerous  party,  but  was 
strongly  opposed  by  the  better  informed,  and  by  the 
church  in  general. 

3.  Episcopal  authority  was  fortified  by  the  division  of 
the  papal.  Different  countries  chose  their  own  papal 
allegiance.  Councils  became  of  greater  importance,  and 
freedom  of  opinion  obtained  a  certain  latitude.  Criticism 
of  at  least  one  Pope  was  always  safe.  Men  of  reading 
could  not  fail  to  compare  the  records  of  earlier  Christi- 
anity, with  what  was  taking  place  around  them.  The 
universities  were  almost  unanimous  in  their  demand  for 
reform,  and  the  ])ublic  generally  looked  for  it.  But  the 
heads  of  the  hierarchy,  to  whorn  the  application  waa 
made,  regarded  it  with  aversion. 

4.  Meanwhile  dissenting  sects  continued  to  increase. 
And  a  greater  number  without  dissenting  from  the  doc- 
trines of  the  church  were  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of 
her  clergy.  No  one  fact  appears  more  frequently  in  the  lit- 
erature of  the  14tlj  century  than  this.  It  is  embodied 
in  The  most  terrific  passages  of  Dante,  it  is  exposed  in 
the  letters  of  Petrarch,  and  the  tales  of  Boccacio,  it  is 
declared  in  various  forms  in  Chaucer,  and  in  the  poem 
called  the  visions  of  Piers  Plowman.  But  who  were  to 
be  the  reformers  ?  The  strength  of  the  medij^eval  Puri- 
tans, the  Cathari,  was  broken ;  the  Aibigenses  were 
almost  extinguished.  Nor  is  it  certain  that  they,  if  suc- 
cessful, would  have  made  the  reformation  which  was 
needed.  The  seat  of  dissent  was  removed  further  north, 
to  the  Netherlands,  to  Bohemia,  and  especially  to  Eng- 
land, where  it  found  a  leader  in  John  Wyclitt",  professor 
of  theology  in  the  university  of  Oxford. 

It  was  in  1360,  when  he  was  a  fellow  of  Merton  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  that  Wycliff  first  came  forward  as  the 
champion  of  the  university  in  dispute  with  the  mendicant 
monks.  In  1366  he  defended  the  King  and  Parliament 
in  rejecting  the  papal  demand  of  tribute.  He  was  made 
professor  of  theology  in  1372,  and  rector  of  Lutterworth 


135 

in  1375.      He  was  accu.sod  of  heresy  in   1376.     (Iregory 
XI.  instituted  an  inquiry  against  him.      He  was  protected  (]        /i    y- 

by  a  strong  party  among  the  nobility,  and  by  the  Diike  "=  f^'^  "^^^^^ 
^<j|^-of  Lancaster,  one  of  the  sons  of  Edward  III.  The 
Succeeding  papal  schism  furnished  an  occasion  of  whicli 
he  availed  himself  to  publisli  scripture  truth  among  his 
countrymen.  His  pupils,  whom  he  sent  on  that  work, 
he  furnished  with  the  true  evangelical  armor  in  his 
translation  of  the  Scriptures.  In  1381  he  was  constrained 
to  leave  Oxford.  He  retired  to  his  parish  of  Lutterworth 
and  continued  his  work  of  translating  the  Bible,  and 
otherwise  carrying  forward  the  reformation  of  the  church, 
until  his  death  in  1384. 

The  followers  of  Wycliff,  generally  called  Lollards, 
were  protected,  or  were  not  harassed  during  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.  But  in  1399  Richard  was  consl\rained  to 
resign  by  Henry  of  Lancaster,  who  to  secure  the  throne 
he  had  usurped,  threw  himself  into  the  interest  of  the 
Papalists.  Pai'liament  in  1401  passed  a  law  that  persons 
convicted  of  heresy  should  be  burned  to  death  ;  and 
executions  forthwith  began.  Still  within  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.,  the  papacy  was  in  a  divided  and  compara- 
tively feeble  condition.  It  recovered  in  tlie  time  of 
Henry  V.  who  came  to  the  throne  in  1413.  Then  was 
the  cause  of  reformation  persecuted  with  mf)re  persistent 
cruelty.  Wydiff's  doctrines  were  condemned  at  C-on- 
stance,  and  ten  years  later,  1428,  liis  bones  were  taken 
out  of  the  grave  and  burned,  and  their  ashea  cast  into  a 
neighboring  brook.  But  the  doctrines  of  Wyclitf  were 
never  extinguished  in  England.  They  also  crossed  the  / 
sea  and  met  with  acceptance  in  Bohemia.  The  wife  of  i-iOu,'^ 
Richard  II.,  who  was  a  sister  of  Wenceslaus,  king  of  c^/uu.  ' 
Bohemia,  partook  of  the  spirit  of  the  reformer.  Her  life 
as  (^ueen  of  England  was  such  as  to  sanction  the  juost 
important  of  Wycliff 's  labors.  The  communication  thus 
established  between  England  and  Bohemia  greatly  pro- 
moted the  interests  of  reformation  in  both  countries. 

Among  the  earliest  reformers  in  Bohemia  were  Con-    o- ^t»v^-'  . 
rad    of  Waldliausen,    pestor    in    Prague,  and  Milicz  of  c^  ;icvr*»-«^^'- - 
Kremsier.     Further  advance  was  made  by  Matthias  of 
Janow,  preacher  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Prague  (d. 


136 

1394.)  John  IIus,  teacher  of  theology  at  Prague  foUowed 
their  example  hy  taking  his  own  lessons  of  divine  truth 
from  the  Bible.  He  soon,  together  with  liis  friend 
Jerome  of  Prague,  stood  at  the  head  of  an  almost  national 
movement  of  I'eform,  which  was  too  strong  to  allow  per- 
secution to  seriously  injure  them  at  Prague.  When  the 
council  met  at  Constance,  they  were  summoned  to  appear 
before  it.  Hus  went  under  a  letter  of  safe  eoi)duct  from 
the  Emperor  8igismoud.  Notwithstanding,  he  was  con- 
demned by  the  council  and  burned  at  the  stake,  July  6, 
1415.  Jerome  suffered  the  same  fate  on  the  30th  of  May 
following. 
•  5.   During  the  14th  century  a  change  was  introduced 

^    H*4^x<  •- <^ ''^^*'  into  the  philosophy  of  scholasticism  by  William  Occam, 
&CXM,ii  professor  of   theology  at   Paris  (d    1347).     That  change 

consisted  in  a  new  style  of  nominalism,  according  to 
whicli  the  common  understanding  does  not  apprehend 
truth,  but  only  phenomena,  that  is,  not  universal  principle, 
but  particular  things,  including  forms  of  expression  in 
language.  The  truths  of  doctrine  could  not  be  demon- 
strated [)liilosophically.  They  were  based  on  the  words 
of  Revelation,  whicli  the  IT(dy  Spirit  continues  to  make 
to  the  church.  The  liuniau  mind  knows  only  the  particu- 
lar; to  general  ideas  there  is  no  corresponding  objective 
reality  ;  and  divine  truth  was  just  the  truths  of  diiier-ent 
revelation  3.  But  consistently  with  the  growing  system  of 
Romish  dogma,  Occam  taught  thai  revelations  had  been 
made  to  the  great  doctoi-s  of  the  church  as  well  as  to 
the  apostles.  His  views,  after  a  bitter  controversy, 
prevailed  in  Paris;  but  were  rejected  at  the  university  of 
Prague.  In  the  violent  debates,  carried  ou  through  the 
14th  century  between  Realists  and  Occamists,  the  greater 
part  of  the  warfare  was  waged  within  the  domain  of 
philosophical  notions  preliminary  to  theology. 
__         Other  ennnent  scholastics  of  the  same  period  were  „  V 

Cv^-'iWx.  A>'^^ I>urand,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  (d.  1333)  Thomas  Bradwar- z^^'**^'^ 
dine,  (d.  1346)  Arch-bishop  of  Canterbury  ;  PeterA'Ailly       ' 
(1425),  John     Chailier  de  Gerson  of  the  university   ofht^/'Kift'*^ 
Paris,  (1375-1425),  Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  (1440).     The 
writings  of  Gerson  and  some  of  his  contemporaries  give 
evidence  that  scholasticism  had  lost  its  power  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  human  mind. 


137 

Biblical  leaniino^anidngChristiai]  scliolars  of  the  west, 
had  tor  oeiitiiries  been  almost  confined  to  the  Latin  ver- 
sion used  in  the  clinrch.  A  professorship  of  Oriental 
languages  was  established  by  Clement  V..  1311,  but  only 
for  the  instruction  of  missionaries.  Nicholas  de  Lyra, 
prof,  of  theology  in  Paris,  (d.  1340)  was  the  only  man  of 
liis  time  distinguished  by  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew.  Greek 
9cholarshi[i  was  not  (piite  so   i-are. 

6.  It  was  in  the  14th  century  that  the  ^^ystics  carried 
their  doctrines  to  the  greatest  extreme,  arid  to  a  positive 
antagonism  to  the  teaching  of  the  later  Scholastics.  A 
certain  class  of  them,  who  were  called  the  Friends  of 
God,  became  of  great  weight  among  the  refoi-ming 
agencies  of  the  church,  especially  in  southwesrern  Ger- 
many. God  they  believed  to  be  the  only  reality;  all 
finite  thingsJ  were  only  seeming.  This  view,  if  developed 
philosophically,  miglit  have  amounted  to  nothing  more 
than  a  commonplace  i)antlieism  ;  but  they  thought  only 
of  nearness  to  a  real  and  everywhere  present  God.  The 
soul  of  man  must  separate  itself  from  the  finite,  as  Christ 
did,  tliat  it  may  become,  like  him,  a  son  of  God.  This 
is  to  be  done  by  contemplation  upon  God,  and  renuncia- 
tion of  the  world.  Tliey  also  lamented  the  corruptions 
of  the  church,  and  advocated  a  reform,  and  especially 
longed  for  a  spiritual  revival,  which  they  also  did  no 
little  to  promote.  Henry  Eckart  of  Strasburg,  who  lived 
in  the  first  quarter  of  the  14th  cent.,  was  the  earliest  to 
advocate  this  doctrine.  It  was  zealously  accepted  by 
Nicholas  of  Basil,  fri»m  1330,  who  believed  that  by 
ascetic  exercises  lie  liad,  through  visions  and  revelations, 
attained  to  a  complete  renunciation  of  the  world  and  of 
his  own  will,  and  to  an  intimate  communion  with  God. 
Several  others  adopted  more  or  les-<  of  the  same  views, 
among  whom  John  Tauler,  a  Dominican  Monk,  became 
eminently  distinguished,  (d.  1361.)  To  the  same  reli- 
gious connection  belonged  Henry  Suso  of  Ulm,  Ruys- 
broek  of  Brussels  (d.  1381.),  tliought  by  some  to  be  the 
author  of  the  Theologia  Germania.  The  succession  con- 
tinued through  the  fifteenth  century,  including  also  such 
men  as  Dr.  Gerson,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and  several  who 
proceeded  from  the  school  of  Gerard    at   Deventer,    and 


188 

whose  preaching  and  vvriting.s  were  eagerly  souglit  after, 
greatly'totheincreaseof  practical  piety,  until, as  a  religious 
revival,  their  work  merged  in  the  greater  one  of  the 
Reformation. 

The  mystics  were  not  limited  to  a  [)articular  order  of 
clergy,  or  class  of  society ;  tiiey  were  of  all  classes. 
They  did  not  escape  the  persecution  wiiich  was  levelled 
at  heretics.  Not  a  few  sufiered  death.  Nicolas  of  Basil 
was  burned  in   1382. 

The  theological  school  of  Gerard  Groot,  at  Deventer 
was  designed  to  promote  true  spiritual  attainments  in 
uniting  sound  knowledge  to  geTiuinc  piety.  He  died  in 
1384.  Two  years  afterwards,  one  of  his  disciples  founded 
near  Zwoll,  a  chapter  of  regular  canons  with  a  similar 
l>urpose. 

The  rationalizing  scholastics,  as  distinguished  from 
the  mystics  were  subtle  dialecticians,  in  some  (tases  elo- 
quent preachers,  and  in  more  tliey  were  laborious  writ- 
ers, but  dealt  most  generally  with  the  superficies  and 
forms  of  thought,  mapping,  dividing  and  subdividing  the 
surface  of  that  concrete,  which  consisted  of  philosophy 
and  theology  and  practical  morals  and  religion  as  one 
science.  The  m3'stics  penetrated  deeper  into  the  human 
heart,  its  feelings,  its  hojjes,  the  basis  of  its  faith,  and  its 
relations  with  the  unseen  world.  In  some  cases  the 
style  of  their  thinking  may  be  characterized  as  visionary  ; 
but  with  all  their  defects,  the  most  profoundly  exercised 
Chrislian  will  enjoy  their  writings  most,  finding  in  them 
much,  which  though  dialectics  could  never  expound,  he 
knows  to  be  true.  The  writings  of  Tauler  were  much 
esteemed  by  Luther,  and  the  Throhfiui  Germanica,  and 
the  De  ini'datione  Chri^ti,  though  buidened  witli  heavy 
faults,  have  been  cherished  by  the  pious  among  the  edu- 
cated, ever  since  the  days  of  their  publication, 

7.  Another  feature  wliich  distinguishes  this  from  all 
other  periods  of  history,  is  the  revival  of  ancient  classi- 
cal literature  and  taste.  In  the  history  of  the  church, 
literary  art  is  a  matter  of  very  great  moment.  For  it  is 
the  medium  of  addressing  instruction  to  the  common 
inind.  Scholasticism  laid  no  claim  to  attractive  composi- 
tion.    It  spoke  the  language  of  students,  and  addressed 


139 

students  :iloi)0.  It  knew  notliiiii;"  of  a  rejidino;  populace, 
but  only  theologiiviis.  Itnmediately  it  did  little  or  uoth- 
iiii^  for  improving  the  peo[)le.  AiiotlicM-  style  of  literary 
men  was  needed  to  execute  that  work.  And  such  a  class 
had  arisen,  men  who  eniployed  the  popular  dialects  in 
their  productions,  ;ind  who  for  enlisting  of  public  atten- 
tion and  interest  relied  upon  those  [»rinciples  which  long 
ages  of  clasi^ical  experience  iiad  proved  the  best.  Their 
models,  and  guides  to  those  [)rinciples  were  the  best 
authors  of  cla.ssical  anti(][uity.  In  that  movement  the 
literature  of  modern  Europe  l)egan.  Dante  was  the 
transition  ;  his  Dirina  Com»tedia  is  tlie  fruit  of  the  Mid- 
dle ages  as  to  its  substance  an  1  form  ;  but  liis  poetic 
examplar  was  Virgil.  But  the  ti-iie  reviver  of  classical 
taste  in  literature  was  Petrarcli.  (1304-1374.)  In  that 
pursuit  he  was  early  joined  by  jiis  iViend  and  pupil  Boc- 
cacio.  Zealously  did  they  both  labor  in  searching  out 
woi'ks  of  ancient  classical  authors  and  in  having  them 
co[)ied  and  re[)ublished,  as  well  as  in  recommending  the 
study  of  them  to  others. 

Study  of  classical  Latin  naturallv  led  also  to  the 
Gi'eek.  And  Greek  literary  men  fleeing  before  the 
advance  of  Turkish  c()n(iue.'*t,  and  finding  refuge  in  Italy, 
furnished  those  progressive  scholars  with  Greek  teachers. 
The  woi'k  tlius  begun  was  taken  up  by  many  others, 
their  number  increasing  as  the  interest  and  richness  of 
tiie  rediscovered  mine  became  better  known. 

Under  the  force  of  classical  example,  some  of  the 
modern  languages,  first  of  all  the  Italian,  and  then  the 
Englisli,  began  to  assume  the  dignity  of  letters.  And 
popular  ti-eatment  of  interestingto[iics  took  a  wider  range. 
The  author  of  Piers  Plowman,  Mandeville,  Chaucer, 
WyclifF,  Gower  and  Barbour,  in  Great  Britain,  were  the 
contemporaries  of  Petrarch  and  Boccacio,  in  Italy. 
And  Wyclill',  Cluiucer,  and  the  author  of  Piers  Plownum 
were  all  advocates  of  ecclesiastical  reform.  Englisli  lite- 
rature opened  in  the  most  important  and  successful 
effort  for  reformation  made  in  the  14th  century. 

In  Germany,  the  Minnesingers  of  the  18th  century 
had  given  way  to  a  class  of  poets  called  Master-singers, 
who  organized  themselves  into  societies  for  the  purpose 


140 

of  promoting  tlieir  art.  But  their  rules  were  unproduc- 
tive of  any  great  work  capable  of  standing  the  test  of 
time. 

Neither  did  French  literature  advance  as  niiglu  have 
been  expecte(h  In  the  south,  the  Troubadours  suft'ered 
with  the  Albigenses.  In  the  north  the  Trouvere  litera- 
ture existed  chiefly  among  the  Normans.  And  those 
who  produced  it,  after  the  pacification  of  England,  made 
that  country  tlieir  jtrincipal  residen'ce.  The  best  works 
of  the  Truveres,  though  in  the  language  of  northoin 
France,  were  written  in  England.  Civil  war  and  foreign 
invasion  also  stood  in  the  way  of  any  literary  culture, 
which  may  have  been  incipient  among  the  people. 

Italy  and  Enofland  were,  in  respect  to  vernacular  lite- 
rature, greatly  in  advance  of  all  other  nations.  The  Eng- 
lish took  the  bent  of  religious  reform  ;  the  Italian  that 
of  art* 

8.  The  eastern  empire  was  now  conti-acted  to  a  small 
space,  and  that  continually  threatened  by  the  now  power 
of  the  Otoman  Turks.  Many  earnest  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Greek  Emperors  to  re- unite  the  eastern  and 
western  churches,  with  the  view  of  securing  aid  from  the 
nations  of  the  west.  I>ut  every  such  plan  was  defeated 
by  the  unbending  tenacity  with  which  both  parties  held  to 
their  doctrines  and  pra(;tices,  and  rejected  those  of  the 
other.  Such  was  that  of  Andronicus  III.  Palteologus, 
in  1333;  aud  of  John  V.  Pal?eologus,  wlioin  1355,  went  the 
length  of  swearing  allegiance  to  the  Poj)e  ;  but  without 
inducing  his  Greek  subjects  to  follow  his  example.  Con- 
troversy, and  consequent  alienation  between  the  two 
churches,  was  rather  increased  by  agitating  the  question 
of  union. 

In  1367  Armenia  was  conquered  by  the  Mamelukes. 
Such  fate  also  befel  the  Coptic  Christians  in  Egypt. 
And  the  churches  in  both  countries  were  subjected  to  a 
cruel  oppression. 

On  the  otlier  hand,  in  the  north,  there  was,  gradually 
emancipating  itself  from  foreign  domination,  a  power 
destined  in  the  course  of  ages  to  become  the  successful 
champion  of  the  Greek  cliurch  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
But  at  that  time,  Russia  was  still  struggling  for  existence 
in  war  with  the  Mongul. 


141 

IX.  1418—1517. 

Tlie  various  rotorrn  iiiovenieuts  wliicli  took  their  rise, 
or  eniero;ed  into  notice  in  tlie  14tli  century,  continued 
to  make  progress  in  tlie  period  wbicli  opened  in  the  last 
weeks  of  the  council  of  Constance,  and  closed  with  the 
publication  of  Luther's  Theses,  in  1517.  Of  that  section 
of  liistory  in  Europe  one  of  the  most  important  features 
is  the  progress  of  tlie  spirit  of  reform  among  the  com- 
mon people  and  the  lower  clerg}',  and  tlie  increase  of 
Scriptural  knowledge  and  general  intelligence  with  which 
it  was  conducted.  A  second  was  the  restored  unity  of 
the  Papacy,  and  accelerated  moral  degeneracy  of  the 
Popes.  A  third  was  the  question  of  the  authority  of 
councils  over  the  Papacy  and  the  church.  A  fourth,  the 
continued  decline,  and  iinal  submersion  of  scholasticism, 
and  the  rapid  growth  of  classical  learning  and  popular 
literature.  A  iifth,  the  invention  of  printing.  A  sixth 
the  maturity  of  Italian  art.  And  a  seventh  must  be 
added  consisting  of  several  remarkable  events,  which 
combined  to  change  in  an  important  degree  the  habits  of 
industry  and  the  channels  of  enterprise. 

1.  On  the  11th  of  November  1417,  the  council  of 
Constance  elected  Otto  Colonna  Pope,  under  the  name 
of  Martin  V.  He  was  acknowledged  by  all  the  nations, 
the  first  sole  Pope  in  forty  years.  The  council  imme- 
diately lost  its  importance  ;  and  after  having  appointed 
a  succession  of  general  councils  to  keep  supervision  over 
the  interests  of  the  church,  it  terminated  its  own  ses- 
sions, on  the  22nd  of  April  1418. 

The  first  in  that  succession  of  councils  was  appointed 
to  meet  at  Pavia,  in  1423.  By  the  Pope  it  was  diverted 
to  Sienna,  and  then  dissolved,  before  it  had  transacted 
any  business.  The  next,  appointed  to  meet  seven  years 
later,  assembled  at  Basil,  Dec,  14,  1431. 

jMartin  V.  died  in  February  of  that  year,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Eugenius  IV.,  elected  by  the  Cardinals. 

The  council  of  Basil  entered  earnestly  into  the  attempt 
to  reform  the  church.  In  its  first  years  the  Pope  was 
constrained  to  yield  on  all  points.  Some  serious  abuses 
were  condemned  and  abolished.  Papal  prerogatives  and 
revenue  were  seriously  threatened.     Eugeniua,  in   order 


142 

to  exercise  the  more  control  over  its  })roceediiigs,  issued 
a  bull,  ordering;  the  council  to  remove  to  Ferrara.  Some 
bishops  complied,  but  the  greater  number  remained  at 
Basil.  Unfortunately,  they  passed  sentence  of  deposi- 
tion upon  Eugenius,  and  elected  Amadeus  VIII.  of  Savoy 
in  his  stead,  as  Felix  V.  This  introduction  of  a  new 
schism,  so  soon  after  the  church  had,  with  much  trouble, 
composed  the  disorders  belongingto  the  former,prejudiced 
the  cause  of  the  council.  Some  of  the  members,  in  dis- 
satisfaction, returned  home,  and  after  the  month  of  May 
1443,  the  council  gradually  fell  apart.  In  1448  it  removed 
to  Lausanne,  and  dissolved  next  year.  Felix  V.  had 
already  resigned. 

During  the  early  days  of  that  council,  while  it  was 
yet  a  real  power,  occasion  was  taken  to  revive  the  ancient 
liberties  of  the  Galilean  Church,  and  to  extend  aud  define 
them.  France  was  then  in  one  of  her  lowest  periods  of 
adversity,  and  the  English  were  still  in  possession  of 
Paris,  when  Charles  VII.,  on  the  7th  of  July  1437  exe- 
cuted the  Pragmatic  sanction  of  Bourges,  by  which  he 
accepted  the  decisions  of  the  council  of  Basil.  They 
continued  to  be  law  in  France  until  December,  1515, 
when  Franis  I.  sacrificed  them  to  his  concordat  with  the 
Pope. 

Eugenius  IV.  persistently  labored  to  undo  the  reform- 
ing acts  of  the  council,  and  had  some  reason  to  be  grati- 
fied with  the  degree  of  his  success.  Where  he  could  not 
prevent  their  acceptance,  he  succeeded  in  embarrassing 
their  operation,  and  on  his  death  bed  received,  through 
ber  ambassadors  the  returning  allegiance  of  Germany. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  Pope's  council  in  Ferrara,  and  later 
in  Florence,  the  principal  event  was  another  show  of 
union  with  the  Greek  church;  of  all  such  the  most  deceitful 
and  humiliating  to  those  concerned.  The  eu^.peror  John 
VII.  Palseologus,  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  by  aggres- 
sion of  the  Turks,  and  the  Pope  striving  to  counteract  the 
council  of  Basil,  agreed  in  earnestly  desiring  the  union  ; 
the  former,  in  hope  that  western  arms  might  thereby  be 
brought  to  the  aid  of  his  own  in  repelling  the  Moham- 
medan ;  and  the  latter,  believing  that  the  weight  of  such 
a  vast  addition  to  his  jurisdiction  would  enable  him  to 


143 

ovonnatt'h  his  opponents,  if  not  to  overwhelm  them  hj 
the  torrent  of  a  crusatle.  In  Papal  ships,  and  partly 
with  I'apal  money,  tiie  in)povorished  em[)eror  left  Con- 
stantinople accompanied  hy  the  Patriarch  and  a  number 
of  Greek  prelates.  They  were  received  with  pomp  and 
adulation  at  Venice,  and  afterwards  at  Ferrara.  But  the 
meetings  of  tlie  council  were  tliinly  attended  and  busi- 
ness was  delayed.  After  about  two  years,  and  after  the 
removal  to  Florence,  the  act  of  union  was  [jassed.  It 
was  one,  in  which  the  necessities  of  the  Greeks  con- 
strained them  to  yield  enough  to  render  the  whole  una- 
vailing. Tiiey  returned  home  to  encounter  a  storm  of 
disa})proval.  Their  action  was  utterly  rejected.  A 
respectable  minority  of  them,  with  Mark  bishop  of 
Ephesus  at  their  head,  had  dissented  from  every  thing  at 
variance  with  Greek  orthodoxy.  They  were  now  the 
national  heroes.  Many  of  the  majority  regretted  the 
part  they  had  taken  in  the  affair,  and  expressed  their 
re})entance  in  ternjs  of  profound  contrition.  The 
emperor,  in  attemi)ting  to  save  his  country,  liad  lost  its 
conlidence  and  support,  and  was  denounced  as  a  traitor 
to  its  most  sacred  cause.  The  pompously  constructed 
union  proved  a  nullity.  As  a  constrained  attempt  at 
compromise,  its  statements  of  doctrine  are  of  little  value, 
as  touching  the  real  faith  of  the  Greek  church. 

Upon  the  death  of  Eugenius  IV.,  Feb.  7,  1444.  Nico- 
his  V.  succeeded,  without  any  reference  to  the  antipope. 
Nicolas  pursued  the  policy  of  his  predecessors,  in  respect 
to  the  authority  of  his  office,  but  was  a  man  of  superior 
liberality  in  other  respects,  and  an  eminent  patron  of 
literature  and  learning.  Upon  the  fall  of  Constantino-  } ilS~3 
pie,  he  issued  a  summons  for  a  Crusade.  But  the  time 
for  sucli  enterprises  had  passed.  None  responded  to  the 
call.  But  the  Papal  treasury  gained  by  collections  of 
money  for  the  purpose. 

Calixtus  III.,  who  succeeded  Nicolas,  (1455-1468) 
adapted  the  same  device  for  raising  money,  but  created 
thereby  much  dissatisfaction,  especially  in  Germany,  and 
indirectly  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  reforming  party. 

^Eneas  Sylvius,  a  former  adherant  of  the  council  of 
Basil  was  elected  Pope,  under  the  name  of  Pius  II..  and 


144 

turned  out  as  high  toned  a  defender  of  Papal  prerogative 
as  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  also  tried  to  organize  a 
crusade;  but  no  popular  interest  could  be  aroused  in  the 
cause.  His  successor,  Paul  II.  in  a  pontificate  of  seven 
years,  succeeded  in  making  himself  generally  hated  with- 
out accomplishing  anything  of  importance. 

The  succeeding  popes  of  this  period  were  men  of 
such  character  that  it  is  amazing  how  they  ever  obtained 
election  to  any  ecclesiastical  office  whatever.  ■  Sixtus  IV,, 
(1471-1484),  although  a  man  of  public  spirit,  who 
enlarged  the  Papal  library,  and  executed  several  improve- 
ments in  the  city  of  Rome,  spent  most  of  his  time  in 
/  measures  to  enrich  himself  and  his  kindred,  and  in  pettj- 

Italian  wars.  Those  who  praise  him  boast  that  "no  Prince 
ever  ottered  him  an  injury,  or  indignity  which  he  did  not 
return  with  due  revenge."  Of  Innocent  VIII. ,  (1484- 
1492),  the  principal  facts  recorded  are  his  quarrels  with 
Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Naples,  and  his  rapacity  in 
providing  for  his  own  illegitimate  children. 

Alexsinder  VI.  (1492-1503)  may  be  said  to  have 
sounded  the  lowest  depths  of  jtrofligacy.  He  and  his 
children  have  rendered  their  family  name,  Borgia,  noto- 
rious in  the  annals  of  crime.  He  died  from  taking  by 
mistake  the  poison,  which  he  or  his  son  Caesar  had  pre- 
pared for  others.  Pius  III.  reigned  only  a  few  days. 
Julius  II.  (1503-1513)  was  more  of  a  soldier  than  a 
minister  of  religion.  As  a  man,  profane  and  blasphemous, 
as  a  prince,  taking  delight  in  war,  he  sacrificed  thousands 
to  his  ambition,  "and  by  his  other  enormities  rendered 
his  name  odious  to  posterity."  Within  his  pontificate,  a 
general  council  was  summoned  at  Pisa,  by  the  Emperor 
and  the  Kingof  France.  It  met  in  September,  1511,  for  the 
purpose  of  once  more  attempting  some  reform  of  the 
generally  admitted  abuses  in  the  church.  Julius,  to 
(-*<_>   ^^  counteract    it,    convoked  a  Lateran    council  to  meet  in 

April  of  the  next  year.  The  council  of  Pisa  effected 
nothing  towards  the  end  for  which  it  was  called  ;  and  the 
emperor  Maximilian  gave  in  his  adherence  to  Julius  and 
the  Lateran  council,  which  was  not  intended  to  reform 
anything.  Julius  died  amid  plans  for  a  league  to  carry 
a  ruinous  war  into  France.     In  1513,  Leo  X.  of  the  ill  us- 


ff> 


,lu 


145 

trioas  de  Medici  of  Florence,  succeeded  Julius,  and 
restored  at  least  a  decent  decorum  to  the  papal  court. 
Leo  X.,  iiad  little  claim  to  the  character  of  a  christian,  but 
he  was  refined  in  his  tastes,  eleo^ant  in  his  pleasures,  and 
an  eminent  patron  of  the  line  ui-ts.  His  tii"st  few  years 
i-estored,  to  all  ap[»earance  the  full  harmony  of  the 
Pajiacy  with  the  secular  powers.  Accordingly  he 
could  go  on  to  gratify  his  taste  for  the  grand  and  beauti- 
ful in  art.  The  new  cathedral  of  St.  Peter's  was  his 
favorite  enterprise  ;  and  money  was  to  be  collected  for 
its  completion  by  all  available  devices. 

2.  During  the  whole  of  this  period,  the  opposing  cur- 
rents of  events  continued  to  advance  with  increasing 
rapidity  :  on  one  side,  the  practice  of  old  abuses,  and 
reckless  development  of  their  consequences;  on  the 
otlier  the  effort  to  obtain  some  correction  ot  them,  thougli 
often  defeated,  was  becoming  better  sustained  by  force 
and  intelligence. 

Restoration  of  papal  unity  brought  with  it  the  idea 
of  restoring  every  thing  to  the  standared  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  Practices  and  dogmas  to  vvhicli  the  one 
party  objected,  were  set  forth  by  the  other  in  a  bolder, 
and  sometimes  most  reprehensilWe  manner.  Transub- 
stantiation  was  urged  in  its  grossest  extreme  ;  adoration 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  I'eceived  additions,  belief  in  her 
immaculate  conception  continued  to  gain  ground;  the 
rosary  systematized  the  vain  repetition  of  prayer  addressed 
to  her,  and  her  house  removed  from  Nazareth  to  Italy 
became  the  holy  slirine  of  Loretto.  Indulgences  iiad  been 
a  saleable  commodity  for  ages,  butthetrffiac  in  them  was 
now  |)ushed  to  an  unprecedented  extent,  especially  bv 
Dominican  monks.  ■< 

The  principle  upon  which  indulgences  were  justified 
was  invented  by  the  schoolmen  out  of  pre-existing  Rom- 
ish practices,  the  granting  of  absolution  by  })riests,  belief 
in  purgatory,  and  the  necessity  of  good  works  in  order 
to  salvation,  the  merits  of  saints,  and  the  Papal  power  of 
the  keys.  The  doctrines  rationally  accounting  for 
these,  and  for  practices  springing  out  of  them,  were 
elaborated  chiefly  b}-  Albertus  Magnns,  aud  Alexander 
Hales,  and,  most  of  all,  by  Thomas  Aquinas,  whose  doc- 
trine was  retained  unaltered  by  the  council  of  Trent. 


146 

The    merits  of    Christ  atone    for    original    sin,    and 
secure  ultimately  eternal  happiness  for  all  true  Catholics. 
But  the  individual    heliever   must  account  for  his  own 
actual  sins  by  good  works,  or  penances.     If  deficient  in 
these  latter,  atthe  time  of  his  death,  he  must  suffer  the 
adequate  aimmnt  in  Purgatory.     When  by  that  propor- 
tion of  suffering  his  soul  has  l»een  purified,  it  ascends,  in 
regular  order,  to  Paradise.     But  it  may  take  thousands 
of%ears  to  reach  that  consummation.     Most  men  come 
o-reatly  short  of  the  necessary  amoint  of  merit,  and  have 
to   suffer  long.     The  saints   happily  have    accumulated 
more    than    enough    ftn-    their    own    use.     The    surplus 
is  laid  up  in  store;   and  from  it  can  be  drawn  what  is 
needed  for  the  lack  of  imperfect  souls.     And   the  Pope, 
by  his  power  as  vicar  of  Christ,  can,  for  sufficient  rea- 
sons, grant  to  the  faithful,  whether  in  this  life  or  in  Pur- 
gatory,   indulgences    out    of    that    superabundance    of 
fhe  merits  of  Christ  and  of  the  saints.     Where  the  Popejsy, 
himself  present,  that  favor  can  be  extended  through  not^ 
his  properly  commissioned   agents,  and   by  means   of  a 
written  paper  properly  signed  and  sealed.     ''  Those  who 
have  obtained    such   indulgences   are   released   from   so 
much  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  for  their  actual 
sins  to  the  divine  justice,  as  is  equivalent  to  the  indul- 
gence   granted    and    obtained."     Temporal   punishment 
means  punishment  in  this  life,  or  in  Purgatory. 

Such  were  the  documents  now  multiplied  enormously 
and  offered  for  sale,  carried  into  various  countries  and 
recommended  to  purchasers,  in  some  places  quietly,  in 
others  loudly  and  publicly,  as  peddlers  vend  their  wares. 
And  the  plea  for  such  activity  in  the  trafic  was,  in  some 
quarters  put  forth  openly,  to  raise  money  to  complete 
the  church  of  St.  Peter's.  Such  was  the  style  in  which 
things  were  conducted  by  the  leaders  of  one  party, 
which  may  be  called  the  conservatist  of  that  time. 

With  such  facilities  for  obtaining  pardon  of  sin,  or 
indulgence  in  it,  with  such  example  as  that  produced 
among  the  clergy  by  celibacy  enforced  and  concubinage 
-  freely%onnived  at,  what  was  to  be  expected  of  practical 
morals  among  the  laity  ?  No  period  in  the  history  of 
Christendom  bears  a  deeper  brand  of  moral  license  than 


the   tifteentli    century,    and    the    early    part    of  the  six- 
teenth. 

Circuhition   of  the  scriptures   among  tlie  people  in  a 
huiguage   tliey    could   understand   was    prohibited,    and 
actually  prevented  as  far  as  the  hierarchy  could  carry 
their  purpose  into  effect.     Church  service  was  in  Latin,    n   ^  /  '7^^ 
of  which  the  people  did  not  now  understand  one  sent- 
ence.     Singing-  in  Church  had  long  ago  been   taken   out  '■'^ 
of  the   mouths  of  the  congregations  and  committed  to    ^iKtt^. 
choirs  of  priests  ;  and  what  they  sang,  or  chanted  was  .r^-'^c-    -■ 
also  in  a  dead  language. 

Preaching  as  revived  by  the  mendicant  monks  had 
not  proved  of  the  effect  intended.  It  had  not  converted 
the  dissenting  sects,  nor  done  much  for  general  edifica- 
tion. The  sermons  of  the  monks  were  in  the  vernacular 
tongues;  but  most  commonlj-  consisted  of  legends  of 
saints,  commendations  of  indulgences,  or  of  some  super- 
stitious practice. 

To  engage  and  occupy  the  increasing  activity  of  intel- 
lect, various  devices  were  employed,  some  of  them  the 
fruit  of  that  activity  itself.  Such  were  the  dramatic 
entertainments,  called  Mysteries,  Miracle  Plays,  and 
Moralites,  exhibited  in  the  churches,  which  commenced 
at  a  much  earlier  time,  increased  in  number  and  import- 
ance in  the  14th  and  15th  centuries. 

In  the  latter  })art  of  this  period  scholasticism  proper 
reached  its  termination.  The  most  complete  and  copious 
treatise  on  Theology  produced  in  tJje  15th  century  was 
\\\Q.  Summa  TAfoi^o/z/cYf  of  Antonius,  printed  at  Nuremburg 
in  1479,  twenty  years  after  the  author's  death.  And  the 
last  of  the  scholastics  whom  History  may  be  concerned 
to  record,  was  Gabriel  Biel  of  Tiibingen,  who  died  in 
1495.  Still,  the  peculiar  style  of  their  disquisitions  lin- 
gered long  in  some  branches  of  study  in  the  universi- 
ties; and  only  gradually  gave  way  before  the  advance  of 
a  more  discrete  philosophy. 

3.  On  the  otlier  liand,  the  movement  in  the  direction 
of  reform  was  proceeding  by  various  channels.  The 
restoration  of  classical  learning  continued  to  advance. 
Upon  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  many  learned  Greeks 
took  refuge  in   the  West,  where  they  maintained  them- 


148 

selves  by  teaching  tlieir  native  tongue.  With  tlie  pro- 
gress of  Greek  schoUirwhip,  the  pliilosophy  of  Plato  was 
revived.  The  il lustrous  Cosmo  de  Aledici  founded  a 
Platonic  school  at  Florence.  Help  was  thereby  brought  to 
the  study  of  art,  and  a  rival  set  up  to  scholasticism.  By  the 
end  of  the  15th  century,  Latin  was  once  more  written  in 
classical  purity,  and  the  best  Greek  authors  were  familiar 
to  the  scholars  of  the  west.  It  was  inevitable  that  the 
original  Greek  text  of  the  Scriptures  ehouhl  receive  a 
large  share  of  attention.  In  the  beginning  of  the  ]6th 
century  the  Greek  New  Testament  was  one  of  the  most 
saleable  books. 

The  arts  of  painting,  sculpture  and  arcliitecture  had 
grown  up  with  i-eviving  literature.  Gothic  architecture, 
like  the  poetry  of  Dante,  was  a  fruit  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  reached  its  prime  in  the  14th  century,  but  the 
revival  of  learning  rekindled  a  taste  for  the  Roman.  In 
the  15th  century,  Italy  saw  a  great  many  buildings  of 
that  style  erected.  And  greatest  of  all,  the  new  St. 
Peter's  was  slowly  rising  from  its  foundations.  It  had 
been  commenced  by  Nicolas  V.,  in  1450.  But  although 
carried  forward  by  architects  of  the  highest  talent,  and 
with  great  expenditure  of  money,  was,  in  the  time  of 
Leo  X.  far  from  complete.  It  was  not  finished  until  one 
hundred  years  later  (1614).  At  the  opening  of  the  16th 
century,  the  excellence  and  renown  of  her  arts  absorbed 
the  pride,  and  the  best  energies  of  Italy.  In  this  respect, 
her  example  was  followed  in  the  Netherlands  and  some 
places  in  Germany.  France  and  England  were  inter- 
rupted in  their  better  progress  by  the  wars  with  each 
other,  and  b}-  the  civil  broils  which  long  distracted  them 
both. 

Witlnn  the  same  period  the  christian  Spaniards  suc- 
ceeded in  finally  expelling  the  Moors  from  Granada 
(1492).  The  Portuguese  had  driven  them  from  their 
part  of  the  Peninsula,  at  an  earlier  date,  and  extended 
their  conquests  to  Africa.  The  mariner's  compass  had 
been  introduced  some  time  before.  It  was  now  employed 
by  daring  Portuguese  sailors,  in  explorations  of  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  off  the  African  coast,  until  by  successive 


149 

attempts  they  ultimately  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  sailed  to  India,  (149S);  while  Columbus,  in  tlie 
service  of  Spain,  vvitii  a  still  bolder  darinij:  launclied  direct- 
ly across  the  ocean  and  reached  America  in  1492.  A  new 
route  was  tlius  opened  to  India,  and  a  productive  trade 
reopened,  which  for  centui-ies  Jiad  been  obstructed  by 
the  conquests  of  the  Turks  ;  and  a  now  continent  dis- 
covered. Tlie  commerce  of  the  world  was  turned  to  the 
paths  of  the  occeau.  The  countries  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
rose  in  importance,  while  those  on  the  Mediterranean 
declined:  a  change  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the 
great  ecclesiastical  controversy  about  to  ensue. 

The  difference  of  exposure  between  tlie  mailcLad 
knight  and  his  peasantry  on  the  battle  field  was  almost 
annihilated  by  the  discovery  of  gunpowder,  and  its 
application  to  war  ;  a  change  the  moral  ettects  of  which 
are  not  easily  computed.  It  became  impossible  to  liold 
as  serfs  men  in  whose  hands  were. the  military  fortunes 
of  tlieir  nation,  when  increasing  intelligence  had  suffi- 
ciently informed  them  of  their  importance.  And  when 
they  also  became  enlightened  by  the  gospel,  their  con- 
sciousness of  power  blended  with  Cliristian  heroism. 

The  new,  or  revived  arts  were,  in  the  first  instance, 
exercised  in  the  service  of  the  Romish  church.  The  only 
exception  v/as  that  of  printing,  which  from  the  first,  was 
an  agent  of  progress,  on  whatever  side  of  the  controversy 
it  wrouglit.  Its  earliest  productions  were  executed  before 
the  middle  of  the  loth  centur}'.  And  in  the  next  sixt^^ 
or  seventy  years  the  book  upon  which  its  labors  were 
chiefly  employed  was  the  Bible.  It  was  the  first  book  of 
any  importance  printed  with  moveabla  metal  types,  by 
Faust  and  Guttenbero^  at  Mavence  between  1450  and  1455. 
Several  editions  of  the  Vulgate  followed  each  other  at  no 
great  intervals.  And  many  translations  made  from  the  Lat- 
in into  the  modern  languages  were  printed  before  the  end 
of  that  century.  Hebrew  scholarship  had  also  commenced 
its  career  among  christians  of  the  west,  and  two  editions 
of  the  whole  Hebrew  Bible  were  printed  within  the  same 
time,  one  at  Soncino  in  1488,  and  the  other  at  Brescia  in 
1494.  And  by  the  year  1517  the  Complutensian  Poly- 
glot was  finished,  and  printed  at  Alcala  in  Spain. 


150 

4.  After  all,  the  main  stream  of  improvement,  which 
carried  all  tliese  agencies  along  with  it,  and  made  its  own 
benign  uses  of  them,  was  the  increasing  interest  in 
evangelical  religion.  The  infinences  set  in  activity  by 
the  mystic  preachers,  not  so  mncli  from  their  theory  of 
faith,  as  in  that  they  preaclied  Christ,  operated  in  that 
direction  within  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Clinrch. 
Such,  likewise,  was  tlie  moderate  mystic,  or  more 
properly,  spiritual  piety,  tinged  with  monasticism,  which 
peri)etuate(l  itself  from  the  school  of  Gerard,  through  tlie 
Bretliren  of  the  common  life,  and  the  canons  of  Mount 
St.  Agnes  at  Zwoll.  But  head  and  front  of  all  was  the 
great  dissenting  movement  which  commenced  in  Eng- 
land, was  now  most  conspicuous  in  Bohemia  and  Mora- 
via, where  in  the  face  of  [persecution,  the  reformers 
organized  themselves  for  defence,  and  under  their  brave 
and  gifted  leader,  Ziska,  held  their  ground  agaiiist  the 
Emperor,  in  successful  war,  for  many  years.  Finally 
their  enemies  succeeded  in  dividing  them  by  offering  a 
compromise,  whicdi  only  a  part  of  their  number  could 
accept.  Those  wlio  submitted,  called  Caliztines,  because 
the  restoration  <  f  the  cup  in  the  Eucharist  was  one  of 
the  conditions  of  the  compromise,  finding  that  the  con- 
ditions were  not  complied  with,  on  the  part  of  the  Catho- 
lics, returned  in  considerable  numbers  and  reunited  with 
the  uncompromising  party,  who  were  called  Taborites, 
and  formed  with  them  the  covenant  of  the  Utv'las  Fra- 
trum.  About  1470  they  published  a  translation  of  the 
Bible  in  the  Bohemian  language;  and  sent  commission- 
ers into  various  countries  to  inquire  into  the  state  of 
religion.  About  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century,  thej- 
had  still  some  two  hundred  congregations,  b^'  whom 
fraternal  relations  had  been  establislied  with  the  Wal- 
deuses. 

In  Spain  and  Italy  also  voices  were  raised  in  advocacy 
of  reformation  ;  But  Papal  authority  was  too  near  in  any 
part  of  the  latter  country,  and  the  inquisition  most  unre- 
lenting in  the  other. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century  monarchy  was 
in  the  ascendant.  England,  France,  Spain  were  at  last 
completely  consolidated — each  one  around  its  own  regal 


^-t-^.      n  ^^.^o^^^r^...^   ^^^^^'^^^ 


151 

centre  ;  and  tlie  (Ttermaii  empire  was  stroiis^er  tlinn  it  had 
been  since  the  downfall  of  the  Ilolienstanfen. 

The  civil  rulers  no  longer  admitted  that  they  were 
subordinate  to  the  Po[)e  in  temporal  things.  But  Leo 
X.  did  not  press  tliat  claim.  And  the  collision  into  which 
he  was  brought  with  some  of  them  was  not  for  supremacy, 
but  for  the  safety  of  Italy.  His  see  was  restored  to 
strength,  not  quite  of  the  same  kind  it  had  wielded  in 
the  13th  century,  but  of  a  kind  apparently  more  stable 
and  peaceful.  Maintaining,  as  lie  did,  manageable  rela- 
tions with  the  great  monarchs,  and  enjoying  a  perfect 
agreement  with  them  on  the  subject  of  religion,  why 
should  the  murmurs  of  powerless  dissenters  be  a  cause  of 
anxiety  ?  They  in  fact  occasioned  none  to  the  gay  and 
accomplished  Pope.  From  the  Vatican  point  of  view, 
the  prospect  was  a  flattering  one,  in  the  early  years  of 
Leo  X.  But  the  expenses  of  the  Papal  court  were  great, 
and  patronage  of  the  arts,  liberal,  and  the  work  upon 
St.  Peter's  involved  an  enormous  additional  outlay.  To 
meet  these  demands  recourse  was  had,  among  other 
devices,  to  an  increased  activity  in  the  sale  of  indulgen- 
cies.  The  method  of  farming  them  out  and  peddling 
them  over  the  counti'y  was  pusiied  to  a  degree  of  reck- 
lessness, which  was  the  more  ottensive  as  in  the  face  of  a 
greatly'  advanced  popular  intelligence. 

In  the  prosecution  of  that  traflc,  "  Germany  was 
divided  among  three  commibsioners.  The  Elector  Albert 
of  Mayence,  who  was  also  archbishop  of  Magdeburg, 
assumed  the  chief  management  of  commission  for  his 
own  provinces.  Among  the  venders  of  indulgences 
whom  he  appointed,"  John  Tetzel,  a  Dominican  monk, 
made  himself  imprudently  conspicuous.  The  condition 
of  repentance  for  the  sins  pardoned  he  ventured  to  omit. 
Such  was  the  virtue  of  Ijis  indulgences,  that  they  of  them- 
selves effected  pardon  of  the  sins  for  which  they  were 
purchased.  It  is  surprising  to  read  of  the  success  which 
followed  him.  But  there  were  multitudes  all  over  Ger- 
many, who  were  shocked  by  the  scandalous  practice. 

Martin  Luther,  an  Augustinian  monk,  and  professor 
and  preacher  at  Wittenberg  in  Electoral  Saxony,  who 
had  already  opposed  himself  to  certain  doctrinal  errors 


152 

of  the  rvomish  church,  was  moved  to  condemn  the  whole 
system  of  indulgences,  as  having  no  authority  from  the 
Word  of  God.  An  arduous  spiritual  experience,  and  care- 
ful study  of  Scripture  had  already  given  him  victory  over 
many  of"  the  superstitions  of  his  time.  His  duty  was 
plain.  He  preached  against  indulgences,  and  warned 
his  people  about  them,  as  an  imposition  upon  their  faith. 
Tetzel  heard  of  it,  and  was  furious  against  the  heretic. 
Luther  was  a  man  not  to  be  intimidated,  or  deterred  from 
takino;  the  most  effective  stand  for  the  truth  which  he 
believed.  On  the  evening  of  the  31st  of  Octobei-,  the  eve 
of  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  in  the  year  1517,  a  day  on 
which  all  who  shouhl  attend  church  and  confess,  should 
receive  plenary  indulgence,  Luther  went  and  affixed  to 
tlie  door  of  the  great  church  of  Wittenberg  a  list  of 
ninety-five  theses  against  indulgences,  which  he  announced 
himself  prepared  to  defend  next  day  in  the  university 
against  all  opi)Osers.  That  act  was  solely  his  own.  He 
committed  no  person  to  responsibility  for  it  but  himself. 
Going  forward  in  reliance  upon  divine  truth,  and  fearless 
of  danger  in  so  doing,  he  took  a  step  which  however 
simplein  itself,  became,  from  the  existitig  state  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  world,  an  era  in  general  history,  one 
of  those  great  events  by  which  we  mark  the  progress  of 
mankind. 

FOURTH  PERIOD.     1517    TO  1870. 

When  from  A.  D.  1517,  we  look  into  the  future,  it  is 
is  not  merely  a  new  stage  in  the  old  controversy  which 
appears;  but  a  new  question  has  arisen,  a  new  party  has 
taken  the  field,  and  a  new  aim  is  held  up  before  the 
Christian  world.  That  new  aim  is  to  emancipate  the 
Bible  from  the  restraints  of  ecclesiasticism,  to  maintain 
its  freedom,  and  its  right  to  be  regarded  as  the  only  rule 
of  faith  and  practice.  On  that  subject  professing  Christ- 
ians continue  to  differ.  Men  of  the  world,  to  some 
extent,  take  part  with  one  side  or  the  other,  according  to 
circumstances.  And  the  whole  of  western  Christendom 
is  divided. 

The  Reformation  was  not  the  work  of  a  man,  not  the 
fruit  cf  a  single  act  of  daring.     It  was  one  of  the  steps 


153 

of  jirogress  in  tlie  work  of  God,  which  had  heen  going 
on  in  tlie  heart  of  the  people  for  three  hundred  years, 
slovvl}^  strengthening  and  unfohliug  itself,  in  the  midst 
of  persistent  opposition  from  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
authorities,  since  the  first  appearance  of  tlie  Cathari  or 
Albigenses,  on  the  plains  of  Southern  France.  It 
assumed  its  place  as  a  separate  interest  in  history,  when 
it  could  no  longer  be  suppressed.  Luther  was  one  of  the 
men  whom  God  raises  up  to  lead  in  such  a  crisis  ;  but  so 
far  fi'om  the  Reformation  being  created  by  liim,  it  had 
long  ago  been  [)roclaimed  in  England,  and  thougli  there 
suppressed,  was  silently  biding  a  more  favorable  time,  it 
had  already  run  a  course  of  more  tlian  a  linndred  years 
in  Bohemia,  and  opened  simultaneously  its  career  in 
Switzerland  and  France. 

The  bearing  of  this  new  period  is  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel  towards  perfect  freedom.  The  end  at  which  it 
aims  is  that  state  of  things,  in  wliicli  a  freely  published 
and  preached  Gospel  shall  address  every  man  in  liis  own 
language.  Far  from  being  completed,  the  warfare  is 
still  going  on.  But  the  Reformation  crisis  was  that  in 
whicli  the  Gospel  burst  the  fetters  of  Mediaeval  bondage, 
and  stood  forth  in  its  own  character  before  the  world, 
with  a  power  which  proved  successful  in  maintaining 
itself.  Henceforward  the  history  of  western  Christianity 
is  divided  into  different  channels  :  and  yet  there  are  cer- 
tain common  epochs,  which  like  broad  bars,  run  across 
them  all. 

The  first  of  those  epochs  occurs  in  the  year  1530, 
when  the  Theology  of  tlie  Reformation  first  received  a 
systematic  shape,  and  the  construction  and  conflict  of 
confessions  liegan. 

The  next  occurs  in  and  about  1648,  when  the  period 
of  confessions  came  to  an  end  ;  and  Protestant  nations 
on  the  European  Continent  secured  tlie  recognition  of 
their  independence. 

A  third   i«   marked   by  the   outbreak  of  the  French  /If?/) 
Revolution,  a  movement  which   had  as  much  to  do  with 
religion  as  with  politics. 

And  a  fourth  may  perhaps  be  found  in  the  Vatican 
Council  of  1870,  the  effects  of  wliich  I  believe  are 
destined  to  be  greater  than  have  yet  appeared. 


154 

I.      1517—1530. 

Of  the  Reformation  tlie  fundamental  doctrine  was 
justification  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  and  that 
from  which  it  revolted  was  justitication  by  any  other 
way  :  and  the  ground  on  whicii  the  Reformers  took  their 
stand  was  that  the  Scriptures  are  tlie  only  sufficient  rule 
of  faith  and  practice.  By  the  greatly  enlarged  publica- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  many  persons  were  prepared  intel- 
ligently to  take  that  step,  as  soon  as  a  trusty  leader 
appeared. 

The  period,  brief  as  it  is,  consists  of  different  stages. 

1.  Luther's  attack  upon  indulgences,  and  controversy 
/^-'/^^i  i<             o'l  tliat  topic,  as  a  faithful  subject  of  the  Pope,  conducted 

'  by  public  addresses,  epistles  and  oral  debates. 

2.  Denial  of  the  absolute  power  of  the  Pope,  leading, 
in    course   of  controversy,    to    discussion    of  the    whole 

' ^ lb  '^/-l ■  structure  of  the  Paj^acy,  issuing  in  Luther's  rejection  of 
Papal  allegiance,  and  appeal  to  a  general  council  :  and 
his  defense  at  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

3.  A  third  stage  was  marked  by  attempts  to  repress 
the    Reformation    by   action    of  civil    and    ecclesiastical 

' o  Z-f  —^0  courts;  and  on  the  side  of  the  Reformers,  to  defend  it 

by  clear  statements  of  faith,  as  sustained  by  scrip- 
ture, and  by  careful  instruction  of  the  public  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  ;  issuing  in  the  great  Diet  at  Augs- 
burg, and  the  confession  presented  there  ;  ;md  at  the 
same  time,  the  publication  of  the  confessions  drawn  up 
by  Zwingle  and  Oecohunpadius  for  Switzerland  ;  the 
earliest  general I3'  acce|.)ted  confessions  of  the  Protestant 
churches. 

1.  In  1516,  while  Luther  was  nuiking  liis  incipient 
attacks  upon  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  good  works, 
Ulrich  Zwingle,  at  Einsiedeln  in  Switzerland,  was 
preaching  against  the  vvorsliip  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  And 
in  1518  he  dealt  with  Samson  the  vender  of  indulgences, 
in  that  country,  as  Luther  with  Tetzel,  in  Germany.  In 
France,  Brigonuet,  bishop  of  Meaux,  had  already  organ- 
ized a  reformed  congregation  of  300  members.  But 
-  Luther  was  peculiarly  constituted  and  prepared  to  be  the 
princi}>al  leader  in  that  juncture.  Certain  external  cir- 
cunistaiices  favored  him.     Staupitz,  vicar  general  of  the 


155 

Auo^ustiiiiaii  order  for  Germany,  wn^  a  man  of  kindred 
faith,  and  lono;cr  Christian  experience,  and  was  to  Luther 
an  invaluable  adviser.  Another  staunch  friend 
was  the  Elector  Frederic  of  Saxony,  whose  sub- 
ject he  was.  Thus  encouraged  and  jirotected,  reforma- 
tion work  had  been  g'oing  on  in  the  Universit}-  of  Wit- 
tenhero;,  undei'  Luther's  instructions,  before  the  attack 
upon  indulgences  brought  him  before  the  general  public. 

Co[)ies  of  the  Theses  against  indulgences  were  put  in 
circulation,  and  rapidly  and  far  dispersed.  Luther 
himself  sent  one  to  the  Pope.  It  was  reasonable  to  tliink 
that  Leo,  would  not  justify  such  abuse  of  his  own  divinely 
confei-red  prerogative.  Multitudes  were  fully  prepared  to 
welcome  that  declaration.  What  it  expressed,  they  had 
already  been  thinking,  and  with  its  encouragement,  now 
felt  free  to  say. 

Lutlier  went  on  with  his  work.  In  the  month  of 
iSTovember,  he  defended  the  doctrine  of  the  Theses  m  a 
Latin  disputation  for  the  learned,  as  well  as  in  a  vernacular 
discourse,  for  the  general  public.  Tetzel  responded. 
And  Prierias,  a  high  official  of  the  Papal  court,  sustained 
the  cause  of  indulgences,  on  the  ground  of  the  infallible 
authority  and  absolute  power  of  the  pope.  Luther,  in 
reply,  recognized  no  authorit}'  as  infallible,  save  that  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  A  new  step  was  thus  taken  in 
the  controversy. 

2.  The  Dominican  monks  concerned  in  the  indulgence 
business  were  the  principal  parties  in  the  first  step.  The 
Papal  court  might  have  disowned  and  reproved  their  con- 
duct. But  now  the  whole  structure  of  the  Papacy  was 
assailed. 

Luther  was  summoned  to  appear  in  Rome  August  7, 
1518.  By  intercession  of  the  Elector  Frederic,  an  exami- 
nation at  Augsburg  was  substituted,  which  took  place 
in  October  of  the  same  year.  Luther  appeared  there. 
Cajetan,  the  Papal  Legate,  demanded  of  him  a  full  re- 
cantation, without  any  discussion.  To  that  he  refused  to 
submit,  and  appealed  to  the  Pope,  wdien  the  Pope  should 
be  better  informed  of  the  case.  But  on  the  9th  of  Nov., 
a  Papal  Bull  was  issued  which  assumed  for  the  [*ope  the 
whole  responsibility  for  indulgences.  Luther  condemned 
by  the  Pope,  appealed  to  a  general  council. 


156 

Some  of  the  church  authorities  uovv  became  alarmed, 
and  attempted  to  stay  the  controversy,  Luther,  when 
appealed  to,  promised  to  observe  silence  on  the  subject, 
if  his  adversaries  would  do  so  likewise.  He  also  wrote 
to  the  Pope  expressing  his  ecclesiastical  submission,  and 
exalting  the  Romish  see  above  all  except  Christ.  But 
the  controversy  could  not  stop.  Dr.  Eck  of  Ingoldstadt 
J..  -./.•  continued  to  pursue  it,  in  his  writings,  on  t!ie  Papal  side, 
/ViC^^t5ff>uBetweeh  him  and  Carolstadt,  one  of  Luther's  fellow  pro- 
fessors, a  disputation  took  place,  which  lasted  several 
days,  before  a  large  assembly.  By  action  of  l]is  oppo- 
nents, the  Reformer  was  constrained  to  self-defence. 

It  was  now  that  Philip  Melancthon  entered  the  field 
with  his  treatise,  Dcfensio  contra  Eckiiim. 

A  papal  Bull  was  issued,  June  15,  1520,  condemning 
41  propositions  of  Luther's,  and  commanding  liim  to 
confess  his  faults  within  sixty  days.  In  case  he  failed  to 
do  so,  excommunication  was  threatened,  and  any  magis- 
trate, who  could  lay  hold  upon  him  was  charged  to  arrest 
and  send  him  to  Rome,  He  replied  with  a  treatise  on 
christian  freedom.  In  July  he  published  his  appeal  to  the 
German  nobles  to  enlist  them  in  the  cause  of  the  Refor- 
mation. 

Seeing  that  now,  with  the  light  he  had  attained,  and 
the  attitude  he  had  been  constrained  to  assume,  he  could 
no  longer  acknowledge  allegiance  to  Rome,  he  determ- 
ined ui)on  a  i>ublic  declaration  to  that  effect.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  10th  of  December,  1520,  after  notice  given, 
hepublicly  burned  tlie  Papal  bull  issued  against  him, 
and  with  it  the  Canon  Law,  and  certain  Decretals  of  tlie 
Popes.  This  was  Luther's  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  he  also  abundantly  maintained  with  his  pen. 

From  Dec,  10,  1520  the  Reformation  stands  by  itself 
a  separate  interest  in  the  church, 

3.  The  truths  proclaimed  by  the  Reformers  of  Saxony 
and  Switzerland  were  readily  recognized  where  the  good 
seed  had  been  sown  by  Wyclifi"  and  his  followers;  and 
by  the  longsufferiug  church  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Moravia  and  Bohemia,  who  hailed  the  reformation  with 
-  rejoicing,  and  sent  a  delegation  to  Luther,  to  express 
their  frateanal  sympathy  and  approval.     They  have  sub- 


157 

seqiieiitly  frequent  interviews  witii  him.  At  first,  tliey 
were  not  cntirelj-  in  acconl,  because  of  the  stricter  Bolie- 
niiun  discipline,  on  one  liund,  and  Luther's  severer  defini- 
tion of  doctrine,  on  the  other.  In  a  few  years  that  ditfi- 
culty  was  removed,  and  in  1542,  Lutlier  gave  their  dele- 
gates his  hand  as  a  pledge  of  perpetual  friendship. 
In  England,  the  monarch  was  still  the  firm  defender  of 
the  Romish  faith;  but  the  executions  under  his  reign, 
for  conscience  sake,  were  enough  to  jjrove  that  among  his 
people  there  was  a  sympathy  with  tiie  evangelical  cause. 

An  important  elemeiit  in  the  course  of  events  is  the 
attitude  towards  the  Reformation  assumed  by  the  secular 
powers,  and  .the  condition  in  which  they  then  were  to 
favor  or  resist  it.  The  emperor  Maximilian  died  in 
January  1519,  and  in  July  of  tlie  same  year,  his  grand- 
son Charles  I.  of  Spain  was  elected  to  succeed  hini,  and 
thereby  became  Charles  V.  of  the  Empire. 

Accordingly,  in  the  year  1520,  when  Luther  threw  ofH 
the  Papal  yoke,  the  government  of  Europe  was  chiefly 
in  the  hands  of  three  men,  Henry  VIII.  of  England, 
Francis  I.  of  France,  and  Charles  V.,  who  now  held  a 
larger  dominion  than  had  ever,  in  Europe,  been  ruled  by 
one  man,  Spain,  Naples  and  other  parts  in  Italy,  Sicily 
and  other  important  islands  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
the  Netherlands,  the  German  Empire  with  which  were 
now  connected  the  kingdoms  of  Ilungnry  and  Bohemia, 
and  the  hereditary  estates  of  the  house  of  Hapsburo, 
and  all  the  lands  discovered  by  Spanish  navigators  and 
explorers  on  both  continents  of  America  and  the  West 
Indies.  The  eastern  portion  of  his  European  estates  he 
conceded  to  his  brother  Ferdinand. 

All  three  of  these  great  monarchs  were  staunch  sup- 
porters of  the  Romish  Church,  and  within  their  respec- 
tive dominions  prohibited  tlie  reformation,  and  persecuted 
its  adherents,  Henry  VIII.,  renewing  the  severities 
against  the  people  called  Lollards  of  England,  and  writ- 
ing against  Luther,  Francis  I.,  by  his  concordat  with  the 
Pope,  and  burning  of  Huguenots,  and  Charles  V.,  as 
inheriting  the  Spanish  championship  of  Papal  Catholic- 
ism, patronage  of  the  worst  type  of  the  inquisition,  and 
the  command  of  armies  which  were  the  propagandists 
of  Romanism  over  the  world. 


158 

Outside  of  these  moiuirchies  to  tlie  east,  the  Ottoman 
Turks  had  reached  the  snniniit  of  their  success  under 
the  reign  of  Suleyman,  called  the  magnificent,  who  was 
then  on  the  throne.  Their  empire  hordered  on  that  of 
Charles  V.,  and  their  armies  more  than  once  penetrated 
far  into  the  countries  over  which  his  brother  ruled. 
Although  they  knew  it  not,  those  followers  of  the  false 
Prophet  exerted  no  little  inf^ence  in  helping  forward  the 
Christian  Reformation.  It  was  a  time,  of  great 
monarchs,  everyone  of  whom  was  an  enemy  of  evaiiiireli- 
cal  religion,  and  on  several  occasions  the  three  of  christ- 
ian name  l)anded  themselves  together  with  the  [*ope  to 
destroy  it.  In  no  period  of  liistory  are  the  Providential 
causes  which  defeated  an  overwhelmingly  powerful  party, 
and  protected  from  step  to  step,  and  ultimately  gave 
victory  to  the  feebler,  more  wonderful  and  instructive. 
The  compact  of  the  King  of  England  and  tlie  Emperor, 
the  treaties  of  the  Emperor,  tiie  King  of  France  and  the 
Pope,  the  ostentatious  convention  on  the  Field  of  the 
Cloth  of  Gold,  proved  to  be  only  bubbles  compared  with 
the  simple  |)en-work  of  two  or  three  ministers  of  the 
gospel. 

The  first  assembly  of  the  G-erman  States,  after  the 
accession  of  Charles  V.,  was  summoned  to  meet  at 
Worms,  Jan.  6th,  1521.  It  actually  met  three  months 
later,  attended  by  an  unusual  numl)er  of  princes  and 
nobles,  lay  and  ecclesiastic,  all  desirous  of  jtresenting 
themselves  before  the  3'oung  Emperor  in  a  style  as  impres- 
sive as  they  could  command.  The  Diet  was  one  of  great 
interest,  as  touching  the  policy  of  the  new  govenment 
in  general,  but  the  question  of  most  importance  was  that 
of  the  Reformation. 

Aleander,  the  Papal  legate,  called  upon  the  secular 
arm  to  execute  the  recent  Bull  of  excommunication 
against  Luther.  Tlie  Diet,  at  the  instance  of  Frederick 
of  Saxony,  refused  to  proceed  against  him,  without  giv- 
ing him  a  hearing.  On  receiving  a  pledge  of  protection 
from  the  Emperor,  Luther  went  to  Worms  :  and  on  the 
17th  and  18th  of  April,  stood  before  the  Diet.  His 
defence  on  that  occasion,  conducted  with  great  learning 
and  prudence,  had  a  most  favorable  effect  upon  his  cause. 


159 

Yet  the  majority  decided  against  him  :  and  the  result  of 
the  deliberations,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  was  an 
edict,  condemning  his  doctrines,  and  ordering  the  civil 
anthorities  to  arrest  him,  as  soon  as  the  time  of  his  safe 
conduct  had  expired,  and  bring  him  to  punishment.  It 
also  enjoined  the  princes  of  Germany  to  suppress  his 
adherents,  and  confiscate  their  property.  His  works  were 
to  be  destroyed.  And  any  one  acting  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  that  decree  was  to  be  laid  under  ban  of  the 
empire. 

4.  TJ.e  edict  of  Worms  was  issued  on  tlie  26tii  of  May. 
But  Luther,  whom  it  ordered  to  be  arrested  as  scon  as  he 
arrived  at  VVittenberg,  did  not  succeed  in  reaching  home, 
on  that  occasion.  As  he  was  proceeding  on  his  journey 
through  a  lonely  place,  a  band  of  liorsemen  armed  set 
upon  him,  overpowered  his  few  attendants,  seized  him, 
threw  over  his  monkish  costume  the  cloak  of  a  knight, 
constrained  him  to  mount  a  led  horse,  and  dashed  off 
with  him  into  the  depths  of  the  Thuringian  forest.  For 
ten  months  Luther  was  lost  to  the  eye  of  the  public. 
And  those  who  wished  his  death  learned  what  a  commo- 
tion would  have  been  produced  had  the  sentence  passed 
upon  him  been  actually- executed.  He  was  concealed  by 
friends  in  the  castle  of  tiie  AVartburg,  and  spent  his 
time  in  study  and  writing.  There  the  greater  part,  if 
not  the  wliole  of  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
was  made. 

Meanwhile  the  edict  against  liim  and  his  fellow- 
reformers  was  not  put  in  execution  anywhere  in  Ger- 
many, except  under  the  rule  of  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg, the  Duke  of  Bavaria  and  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  and 
some  of  the  ecclesiastical  princes,  vt^ho  by  their  excep- 
tional severity  intensified  the  interest  in  the  Reformation 
cause.  The  Emperor  was  prevented  from  taking  any 
part  in  it  by  the  war,  in  which  he  was  immediately 
involved  with  France  :  and  his  brother  Ferdinand  was 
entirely  occupied  with  the  cares  of  defense  against  the 
Turk. 

At  Wittenberg  under  the  leadership  of  Melancthon, 
the  structure  of  the  new  church  order  was  carried  for- 
ward.    The  first  systematic  exposition  of  Lutheran  doc- 


160 

trine  was  made  in  Melanctbon's  "  Loci  communes  Rerum 
Thcologicarum,''  publislied  during  Luther's  residence  in 
the  Wartburg. 

But  a  party  arose  at  Wittenberg,  lieaded  by  Professor 
Bodenstein,  called  of  Carlstadt,  which  carried  the  new 
liberty  to  a  pernicious  extreme.  Disordei-s  were  created, 
which  the  mild  Melancthon  was  unable  to  reduce. 
Unexpected  by  all,  Luther  again  appeared  among  them 
(March  1522).  By  his  prompt  regulative  power,  his 
preaching  and  personal  presence,  people  were  won  back 
to  a  peaceable  prosecution  of  church  work  in  the  orderly 
unfolding  and  practical  effect  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
His  translation  of  the  New  Testament  was  published  the 
same  year.  Two  years  afterwards  the  whole  Bible  was 
presented  to  the  public  in  the  German  language,  by  ren- 
dering directly, from  the  Greek  and  Hebrew.' 

Disorders,  provoked  by  longcontinued  oppression,  and 
conducted  b}'  injudicious  men,  broke  out  about  that  time, 
especiallj'  an  insurrection  in  Southern  Germany,  called 
Peasant's  war.  At  the  battle  of  Frankenhausen,  in 
1525,  its  strength  was  broken  by  an  overwhelming  Catho- 
lic force. 

From  1521  to  1530,  the  Reformation  in  Germany 
having  assumed  a  separate  ground,  l)ut  without  a  com- 
plete statement  of  its  principles,  was  involved  in  contro- 
versies on  every  side.  It  still  looked  for  reconciliation 
with  the  Catholic  Church,  through  action  of  a  council. 
And,  with  a  view  to  that,  various  were  the  conventions 
held  for  statement  of  doctrine  and  of  grievances. 
The  Emperor  xMaximilian  had  drawn  up  a  list  of  ten 
grounds  of  complaint  in  Germany  against  Kome.  These, 
afterwards  increased  to  one  hundred,  were  presented  to 
the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  under  the  name  of  the  Centum 
Gravamina,  went  to  justify  the  cause  of  the  Reformation 
with  many,  who  otherwise  would  liave  taken  no  interest 
in  it. 

Leo  X.  died  on  the  Ist  of  December,  1521,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Hadrian  VI.,  a  pious  man,  who  recognized 
the  existence  of  evils  in  the  church,  and  promised  to 
remove  them,  while  he  demanded  the  execution  of  the 
Edict  against  the  heresy  of  Luther.     He  died  Sept.  14, 


161 

1528.  Clciuent  VII,  also  made  promise  of  satisfying  tlie 
complaints  of  Germany,  provided  the  Edict  were  put  in 
execution.  A  Diet  was  lieid  at  Nuremberg  in  1522-3  and 
another  in  1524.  At  the  iirst,  the  legate  of  Hadrian 
made  tliat  demand,  at  the  second  tlie  legate  of  Clement. 
But  the  Kniperor,  in  the  existing  condition  of  his  aftairs 
could  not  undertake  it,  and  most  of  the  German  states 
were  opposed  to  it. 

Frederick  the  wise  died  May  5,  1525.  His  brother 
John,  a  sincere  christian  and  friend  of  Luther,  came  into 
liis  place,  and  consistently  sustained  the  cause.  Several 
impoi'taiit  additions  were  made  to  the  adherents  of  the 
Reformation  about  that  date,  of  wliotn  the  most 
important  were  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  Grand  Master  of  the  Teutonic  Knii^hts, 
who  in  1525,  took  his  place  as  Duke  of  Prussia,  and  with 
his  people  and  their  bishops  joined  the  Reformation. 

Anotlier  Diet  in  reference  to  the  subject  was  held  at 
Dessau  in  July  1525,  where  tlie  the  purpose  of  the 
Romanists  appeared  so  threatening  that  tlie  Reforming 
princes  and  states  entered  intc^  a  league  for  tlieir  com- 
mon defence.  It  was  formed  at  Torgau  in  May  follow- 
ing. The  war  between  France  and  Spain  had  ended  in 
the  defeat  of  the  former,  and  capture  of  Francis  I.  at  the 
battle  of  Pavia,  1525.  In  the  treaty,  whereby  he  was 
liberated,  hostilit}-  to  the  Reformation  w^as  one  of  the 
conditions.  That  Treaty  was  made  January  1526.  The 
league  of  Torgau  was  only  a  prudent  precaution.  Yet 
ere  it  had  occasion  to  operate,  Providence  interposed  in 
a  more  effective  manner.  A  new  war  arose,  in  which 
Francis  I.  and  the  Italian  nol)les,  with  the  Pope  at  their 
head,  arrayed  tliemselves  against  the  Emperor  in  the 
lioly  League  of  Cognac,  formed  ALay  22,  1526.  An 
invasion  of  the  Turks  alarmed  the  Phnpirc  and  Hungaty 
on  the  east,  where  the  disastrous  battle  of  Mohacs  was 
fought,  and  Louis  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia  was 
slain,  August  29,  1526.  In  May  of  next  year,  an  impe- 
rial army  took  Rome  by  stoi'm,  and  for  several  months 
the  Pope  was  a  prisoner,  in  the  hands  of  Charles  V. 

Protection  was  thus,  for  about  three  years,  afforded 
to   the  reformers,  without   any  extraordinary   eifort    on 


162 

their  part.  Thev  availed  tliemselves  of  the  favorable 
opportunity  to  put  into  fitting  order  the  ecclesiastical 
institutions  of  their  respective  countries.  Leaders  in 
that  work  were  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  the 
Elector  Jolni  of  fSaxony.  The  schools  were  put  in  a 
state  of  etiiciency,  and  the  University  of  Wittenberg  was 
at  the  height  of  its  prosperity.  That  of  Marburg,  in 
Hesse,  was  founded  in  1527. 

By  1529  the  Reformation  was  alread}'  established  in 
several  states  of  Germany.  A  Diet,  which  met  in  Spires 
in  that  yeai',  ordered  that  the  Edict  of  Worms  should  be 
enforced,  wherever  the  Reformation  was  not  sanctioned 
by  law.  Against  that  act  six  Princes  and  fourteen  cities 
presented  a  protest,  April  19th,  1529.  Hence  the  name 
Pi'otestant  came  to  be  applied  to  all  who  agreed  in  carry- 
ing forward  the  reformation  then  in  hand. 

The  Emperor,  again  successful  in  war,  concluded  a 
treaty  with  the  Pope  at  Barcelona,  June  29,  1529  and 
with  France,  the  Peace  of  Cambray,  August  5,  of  the 
same  year;  and  in  Februar}-  following  was  crowned 
Emperor,  and  King  of  Lombardy.  Tie  had  sumnn^ned 
a  Diet  to  meet  at  Augsburg,  in  which  the  religious  dis- 
sensions of  Germany  were  to  be  finally  disj»osed .  of. 
Protestants  felt  that  they  must  be  prepared  with  a  com- 
plete, precise  and  summary  statement  of  their  doctrines. 
In  conji»liance  with  that  exigency,  the  articles  of  Torgau 
were  di-awn  up  by  Luther,  Melancthon,  Jonas  and  Bugen- 
hagen.  Attempts  were  made  to  unite  the  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  of  Switzerland  in  confession  of  doctrine, 
which  proved  ineftectual,  from  difference  of  belief,  chiefl}^ 
touching  the  Lord's  supper. 

.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  took  with  him  to  Augsburg 
Melancthon  and  three  other  eminent  theologians.  Luther 
could  not  safely  leave  the  protection  of  Saxony.  While 
waiting  at  Augsburg  for  the  arrival  of  the  Emperor, 
Melancthon  made  good  use  of  the  time  in  composing  a 
more  complete  confession,  which  was  the  one  read  before 
the  Diet,  on  the  25th  of  June  1530.  A  confutation  was 
prepared  by  Dr.  Eck,  and  read  on  the  3rd  of  August. 
An  apology  for  the  confession  in  reply  to  Eck  was  also 
written  by  Melancthon,  and  subsequently  published.     A 


168 

coniniittee  was  also  apjioiiited  to  iieg-otiate  a  reconcilia- 
tion between  the  parties.     But  iiothiii2j  came  of  it. 

Four  free  cities,  Constance,  iStrasbnro;,  Meinniin- 
gen  and  Lindau,  [)resented  a  ,sei)arate  confession,  which 
was  called  the  Tetrapolitan.  The  Reformed  of  Switzer- 
land had  also  a  confession  prepared  for  tliat  occasion, 
hut  as  they  did  not  belong  to  the  Empire,  it  was  not 
called  for. 

The  final  decree  of  the  Diet  granted  to  Protestants 
nntil  April  15,  1531,  for  consideration,  and  tlireatened 
violence,  if  they  did  not  submit  by  that  time. 

5.  In  Switzerland  the  progress  of  Reformation  was 
more  i-apid  tlian  in  Germany,  but  completeness  of  doc- 
trinal statement  was  not  attained  so  soon.  In  Basil  the 
sentiment  produced  l)y  the  general  council  seems  to  have 
retained  its  hold  u[»on  some  leading  minds,  through  the 
rest  of  the  15th  century.  In  the  tirst  years  of  the  16th 
we  find  some  of  the  professors  and  students  in  the  Uni- 
versity earnestly  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  ecclesiastical 
reform  ;  among  whom  Tliomas  Wyttenbacli  was  distin- 
guished as  early  as  1505.  Oapito,  Hedio,  Erasmus,  and 
others  of  like  spirit,  were  students,  teachers  or  residents 
there  prior  to  1517.  Tlieir  attitude,  in  those  days,  was 
the  preliminary  one,  in  which  men  expected  the  church 
to  reform  itself  by  means  of  its  own  authorities  ;  and  was 
comparatively  safe.     Some  of  them  never  went  further. 

From  Wyttenbaeh,  Ulrich  Zvvingle  received  his  first 
theologi(;al  direction.  Ten  years  of  a  quiet  pastorate  in 
the  heart  of  the  Alps,  at  Glarus,  during  which  time  he 
made  himself  well  acquainted  witli  tlie  Greek  N"ew  Tes- 
tament, wrought  full  conviction  in  his  heart  that  the 
Scriptures  are  the  sole  and  sufficient  standard  of  religion. 
In  1516,  he  was  induced  to  reside  as  priest  and  preacher 
at  Einsiedeln,  where  he  began  to  encounter  some  of  the 
prevailing  errors.  Eiusiedeln  was  the  seat  of  a  favorite 
shrine  of  tlie  Virgin  Mary.  Multitudes  of  pilgrims 
flocked  there  to  pay  their  devotions.  Zwingle  was  moved 
with  compassion  for  them,  and  preached  against  the  pop- 
ular delusion.  Christ,  he  told  them,  alone  can  save  from 
sin;  and  his  atonement  satisfies  for  all  believers  in  all 
places  alike.     In  1518  he  opposed  the  sale  of  indulgences 


164 

in  Switzerland,  and  had  tlie  satisfaction  of  seeing  that 
abuse  withdrawn.  The  same  year  he  was  elected  preach- 
er in  the  great  church  of  Zurich  where  in  order  to  pro- 
mote tlie  knowledge  of  Scripture  among  tlie  people,  he 
adopted  the  method  of  exphiining  certain  books  of  the 
New  Testament  in  regular  course.  Tlie  method  proved 
attractive,  and  hirge  congregations  attended  his  jireach- 
ing.  The  excitement  about  Luther  at  that  date,  caused 
Zwingle  to  be  also  suspected  of  heresy.  He  did  not, 
however,  enter  tlie  polemical  arena  of  the  Reformation 
unlil  1522,  when  his  treatise  on  the  obligation  of  fasting 
ap[ieared.  By  that  time,  several  other  Swiss  preacliers 
were  pursuing  a  similar  course.  In  Ma\'  of  that  year, 
the  Bishop  of  Constance  issued  a  pastoral  letter  to  warn 
all  against  innovation,  and  the  Diet  of  Lucerne  forbade 
preaching  likely  to  produce  disquiet.  A  brisk  contro- 
versy ensued,  l)ut  lasted  (  nly  a  few  years  before  Zurich 
and  several  othei-  cantons  took  their  stand  clearly  and 
fully  for  the  Reformation,  as  taught  by  their  own  preach- 
ers. A  conference  between  the  reformers  and  the  Rom- 
ish theologians  was  invited  by  the  council  of  Zurich,  and 
took  place  in  January  1523.  On  that  occasion,  the  coun- 
cil was  so  well  pleased  with  Zwingle's  defence  of  the 
doctrines  he  preached,  that  they  charged  him  to  persevere 
in  his  course,  and  recommended  tlieir  other  };)reacher8 
to  follow  his  example.  All  excesses  were  wisely  held  in 
check,  and  the  work  progressed  quietly,  but  steadily. 
One  after  anotlier,  all  object:>  and  usages  of  su[)erstition 
disappeared ;  "  the  monasteries  were  suppressed,  and 
changed  into  schools  and  aliDshouse."  The  change  in 
public  worship  was  completed  by  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  its  original  simplicity,  on  the  13th  of 
April,  1525,  in  the  great  minister  of  Zurich, 

.  Meanwhile  several  other  cantons  were  pursuing  a 
similar  course,  at  one  stage  and  another,  and  some  were 
hesitating.  A  disputation  held  at  Berne  in  January 
1528,  decided  the  government  of  that  canton  to  accept 
the  Reformation  ;  and  other  cantons,  which  had  been 
wavering,  followed  that  example. 

The  confederation  was  forthwith  divided,  the  northern 
and  western  cantons  being  chietiy  Protestant,  and  those 


165 

on  tlie  eastern  and  southern  side  reniainintj  attached  to 
the  Catholic  relii:;i()n.  Each  liTonp  sonu'ht  their  respect- 
ive alliances,  the  latter  with  Austria,  and  tiie  former  with 
Strashurg-  mid  llesse,  carrvini;:  the  Keforrned  alliance 
down  the  liliine.  At  that  juncture  occurred  the  Diet  of 
Augshurg.  Zwiugic  was  not  present  at  that  assetiibly, 
but  ]n\'pared  about  tliat  time  his  llilio  Fide.!,  for  the 
Em|)er()r,  and  his  JfJi-pos/tio  Fi'/ei  t'/iiisliimcr,  tor  the  King 
of  Fi'auce.  And  (Ecolampadius,  wlio  was  pi-esent,  di-ew 
up  that  confession,  which,  although  not  read  before  the 
Diet,  was  alterwards  the  Itasis  of  the  first  Basil  Confes- 
sion. 

The  great  point  of  ditference  between  the  Saxon  and 
Helvetic  Reformers  was  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
iSupper.  Luther  taught  that  the  real  body  of 
Christ  is  present  with  the  ^Sacramental  bread,  but  does 
not  take  its  ]ilace.  Zwingle  denied  that  to  be  the  mean- 
ing of  Sci'ipture,  and  intei'pi'eted  the  Lc^rd's  words  as 
instituting  a  memorial  ordinance,  in  which  iiis  peojtie,  in 
})artaking  of  bread  and  wine,  should  ai>[)rehend  his  body 
and  his  blood,  which  those  signified,  as  actually  broken 
and  shed  for  them,  audthei-eby  receive  through  faith,  the 
real  blessing  of  the  Lord's  Sacrifice. 

The  Tetrapolitan  Reformers  stood  on  a  different 
ground  from  both,  and  mediate  between  the  two;  but 
nearer  to  the  Lutlieran  side,  to  wliich  they,  not  long 
afterwards,  passed  ovei%  by  tlie  Wittenl>erg  concord  of 
15o6.  Of  that  connection  tlie  leading  theok)gian  was 
ALirtin  Bucer. 

Li  the  year  succeeding  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  the 
Catholic  cantons  of  Switzerland  made  war  on  Zurich, 
and  a  battle  was  fought  at  Ca[>pel,  Oct.  11,  1581,  in  which 
the  forces  of  Zurich  were  defeated,  and  Zwingle,  who  had 
gone  out  to  attend  to  the  wounded  ami  dying,  was  slain. 
The  death  of  CEcolampadius  followed  soon  after,  Nov. 
23,  of  the  same  year. 

Among  the  men  of  that  time  the  most  singly  and 
directly  scriptural,  and  the  most  fully  emancipated  thereby 
from  long  prevailing  superstition,  was  LTIrich  Zwingle. 


lt)6 

ir.     1530-1648. 

From  the  date  of  the  Coiit'essioii  of  Angsbnro^,  until 
the  Peace  of  West[)lialia,  the  liistoi-y  of  the  church  in 
Germany  consists  of  three  periods:  one,  in  wliich  the 
parties  hd)ored  in  attempts  to  convince  each  other,  or  so 
to  frame  a  creed  that  tliey  might  agree  upon  it ;  the  sec- 
ond was  a  period  of  comjiromise,  commencing  with  the 
Religious  Peace  of  Angsl)urg,  in  1555,  and  extending  to 
1618  ;  and  tiie  third,  beginning  with  the  latter  date,  was 
one  of  open  wai%  wliich  did  not  come  to  an  end,  until 
after  the  lapse  of  thirty  years. 

In  view  of  the  final  decree  of  Augsburg,  tlie  Protest- 
ants of  Germany,  having  no  intention  to  submit,  began 
to  jtrepare  for  the  encounter  of  force.  The  league  of 
Smalcald  was  formed  March  29,  1531,  and  soon  after- 
wards strengthened  by  alliance  with  Bavarin,  and  with 
the  king  of  France,  both  of  whom  entered  into  that 
relation  for  politicjil  reasons.  More  cordial  was  the  alli- 
ance with  Denmark.  The  threat  of  Augsburg  came  to 
nothing.  Next  year,  (July  23,  1532)  the  Religious  Peace 
of  Nuremberg  provided  that  religious  matters  should 
remain  as  tliey  wei-e  until  settled  bv  a  council  or  a  new 
Diet. 

The  Augsburg  confession  proclaimed  the  doctrines 
of  the  Lutlieran  church,  and  prepared  the  way  for  large 
addition  to  the  number  of  its  adherents.  It  became  a 
standard  of  Lutlieran  doctrine,  and  gave  union  and  har- 
mony to  the  whole  Lutheran  Reformation  ;  but  it  also 
determined  the  difference  between  that  communion  and 
the  Reformed  ;  the  latter  name  being  applied  to  all  who, 
in  various  countries,  coincided  with  the  views  of  the 
Swiss  Reformers. 

From  the  two  centres,  thus  constituted  in  Electoral 
Saxony  and  Western  Switzerland,  the  influences  of 
Reformation  spread  rapidly  in  all  directions.  The  Saxon 
form  of  doctrince  was  soon  accepted  in  central  and  north- 
ern Germany,  in  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Norway,  har- 
monized with  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren  and 
gained  considerable  numbers  in  Hungary.  Several  of 
the  German  States  down  the  Rhine  from  Basil  and  fol- 
lovvino  that  line  northward  between  the  centre  of  Ger- 


1G7 

many  and  tlie  Netlierlaiuls.  as  far  as  tlie  (Tennan  sea, 
accepted  liefonned  doctrine.  Such  also  became  the 
c^eed  of  rrofestants  in  tlie  Xetherlands,  in  France,  in 
P]n<r|and,  in  Scotland,  and  of  the  Ma<ryar  populaticMi'in 
lJnn<i^ar_v. 

Thoiio-h  differino^  to  i=onie  extent  in  doctrine,  these 
two  irrand  divisions  of  the  Protestant  connection  sup- 
[)orted  each  othei-  in  their  common  defense  against 
violence. 

The  severity  which  Charles  Y.,  never  felt  liimself  in 
condition  t(^  exercise  upon  the  I'rotestants  of  Germany, 
lie  exemjilified  in  liis  hereditary  estates  in  the  Xeflier'- 
lands.  There  had  risen  the  school  of  Gerard,  and  there 
liad  flourished  the  evangelical  agencies  which  proceeded 
from  it.  John  Wessel  of  Gronningen  anticii)ated  alniost 
every  docirine  afterwards  defended  by  Luther.  That  he 
died  in  peace,  1489,  was  due  to  the  protection  of  the  pious 
bishop  of  Utrecht,  wlio  hIm)  ought  himself  to  be  named 
among  the  forerunners  of  the"  Reformation.  At  first 
Lutheranism  was  accepted  ;  but  soon  exclianged  for  tlie 
Reformed  doctrine,  which  has  retained  its  g7-ound.  In 
the  Netherlamis  was  tln^  first  blood  shed  foV-  the  cause, 
in  the  martyrdom  of  Henry  Voes  and  John  Esch  at 
Brussels,  July  1,  1523.  Prom  that  date  persecution  con- 
twiued  in  those  provinces  through  all  the  reign  of  Charles 
V.  and  with  more  terrible  infatuatit)n  under  his  successor 
Philip  11. 

Between  1532  and  1538,  the  Protestant  cause  was 
greatly  strengthened  by  tho  accession  of  Wiirtenberg  of 
Pomerania,  of  the  Count  Palatine,  the  Princes  of  Anlndt, 
William  of  Nassau,  and  many  free  cities,  as  well  as  the 
kingdoms  of  Denmark  (1536)  and  Norway,  (1537). 
Meanwhile  urgent  and  repeated  application  had  been 
made  by  the  Emperor  to  the  pope  to  call  the  council,  to 
winch  Protestants  had  appealed,  and  which  was  expected 
by  many  to  bring  about  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  all 
differences.  The  Popes  had  deferred  that  action,  until 
the  work,  which  it  might  have  done  in  the  beginning,  was 
no  longer  practicable  :  and  until  the  Protestants  no  longer 
took  much  interestin  it.  ABull  was  issued  convokingtlie 
council  at  Mantua.     With  a  view  to  it,  Luther  drew  up 


168 

a  statement  of  liis  views,  wliicli  was  accepted  by  the  Pro- 
testant League  at  Smalcald,  in  February  1537.  It  is 
know  as  the  Smalcald  articles.  Tlie  council  did  not 
meet. 

July  10,  1588,  the  Holy  League  was  formed  at  Nnrem- 
burg  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  the  Imperial  authori- 
ties in  carrying  the  Edict  of  Augsl)urg  into  execution. 
War  between  the  two  parties  seemetl  to  be  inevitable. 
But  at  that  juncture  the  Turk  again  threatened  the  east- 
ern borders  of  tiie  empire.  Peace  must  be  kept  with 
the  Protestants  some  time  longer.  Imperiid  negotiations 
with  them,  nt  Frankfort  on  the  Main  1539,  resulted  in 
suspending  all  proceedings  against  tlieni  for  eighteen 
months. 

After  the  termination  of  tlie  Frankfort  suspension, 
various  other  diets  and  conferences  were  held  to  settle 
the  differences  of  opinion  ;  but  without  effect.  The 
urgently  demanded  council  at  last  assembled  at  Trent, 
Dec.  13,  1545.  At  that  juncture,  Luther  died  at 
Eisleben,  the  ])lace  of  his'  birth,  February  16,  1546. 
Very  soon  it  became  jdain  that  the  council  would 
not  answer  tlie  end  for  which  it  was  called,  that  its 
purpose  was  not  to  conciliate  but  to  condemn  the 
Protestants.  The  em])eror  opened  a  conference  at  Patis- 
bon,  Jan.  27,  1546.  Tliat  also  failed.  And  feeling  n(  vv 
in  condition  to  apply  force,  he  undertook  to  make  a 
reformation  on  his  own  terms,  which  Protestants  were 
to  be  constrained  to  acce})t.  They  resisted  ;  but  their 
confederation,  called  the  Smalcald,  conducted  the  war 
feebly,  and  were  constrained  to  submit.  At  a  Diet 
opened  by  the  Emperor  at  Augsburg  Sept.  1547,  a  com- 
promise between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  religions 
was  agreed  upon,  as  an  Interim,  or  temporary  measure, 
until  the  action  of  a  proper  council  could  be  obtained. 
Though  accepted  by  some  of  the  Protestant  princes,  by 
the  states  and  populations  generally  it  was  condemned. 
But  military  force  imposed  it.  In  a  few  months,  pure 
Protestantism  was  suppressed  in  Germany.  The  city  of 
Magdeburg  alone  maintained  it. 

That  success  of  tlje  Imperial  arms  was  brought  to  a 
ijudden    termination.     Maurice    of  Saxony    who    a    few 


160 

years  before  had  deserted  the  Protestant  leao^ue,  to  join 
the  Kinperor,  and  was  trusted  witli  conimand  of  a  hiri2:e 
force,  becoiDiiii:;  dis<2;usted  with  the  service  in  which  he 
was  eniph)yed,  and  indiu'nant  at  the  Imperial  desjtotisin, 
suddenly  turned  from  Mao-debur*):,  which  he  liad  l)een 
sent  to  reduce,  and  directed  his  ami's  against  his  master. 
Charles  lay  sick  at  Inspruck,  and  learned  of  liis  dan<)^er 
only  in  time  to  escape  capture  by  a  rapid  flight.  He  was 
constrained  (Aug.  2d,  1552)  to  sign  a  treaty  granting 
freedom  of  religion  to  the  Protestant  states,  until 
a  new  council  could  he  (H)nvened.  Maurice  also 
secured  the  co-oi)eration  of  the  King  of  France,  wlio 
prosecuted  the  war  by  invading  the  JEmperor's  posses- 
sions in  the  Netherlands.  It  was  at  some  sacrifice  that 
Charles  secured  a  not  dislionorable  i)eace  with  his  ene- 
mies on  all  sides.  The  act  of  settlement  for  Germany  was 
concluded  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  Sept.  25,  1555,  in 
granting  to  the  Protestant  religion,  without  limitation  of 
time,  a  recognized  place,  and  to  the  German  states,  free- 
dom of  choice  between  the  two  religions.  One  mon.th 
later,  Charles  V.  abdicated  the  throne  of  the  Netherlands, 
and  a  few  weeks  afterwards  that  of  Spain  with  all  its 
dependencies,  in  favor  of  his  son  Philip,  The  crown  of 
tlie  empire  he  retained  six  months  longer.  But  when 
he  had  transferred  all  his  claims  of  allegiance  from  Ger- 
many to  Ids  brotherFerdinand,  the  greatest  monarch  of  his 
age  withdrew  from  publiclife,andsunkhimself  in  a  monas- 
tery. Although  courtesy,  as  long  as  he  lived,  still  made 
use  of  Ids  august  name,  he  never  again  appeared  in  the 
world. 

2,  Freedom  of  religious  profession  was  allowed,  by  the 
Peace  of  Ausgburg,  only  to  governments.  The  people 
were  expected  to  tollow  the  religion  selected  for  them  by 
their  rulers,  although  they  were  free  to  remove  to  a  state 
where  tliat  of  their  choice  was  established.  It  was  further 
fettered  by  a  stipulation  that  every  prince  prelate,  passing 
over  to  the  cause  of  Protestantism,  should  lose,  with  his 
ecclesiastical  prerogatives,  also  his  temporal  power  and 
dominion.  But  for  this  ecclesiastical  reservation,  it  is 
thought  that  almost  all  Germany  would  have  become 
Protestant,  Tlie  emperors  Ferdinand  I,  and  Maximilian 
II,  respected  the  peace,  and  made  honorable  eftbrts  to 


170 

hold  the  balance  fairly  between  tlie  two  parties.  And 
several  additions  were  made  to  the  number  of  Protestant 
states. 

After  tlie  death  of  Luther,  the  divisions  of  opinion, 
which  had  existed  before,  among  tlie  theologians  of  his 
connection  greatly  increased.  Melancthon  had  modified 
their  theology  on  some  points,  snch  as  the  agency  of 
man  in  conversion,  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  , the  for- 
mer, though  he  denied  all  merit  to  man,  3'et  he  held  to  a 
certain  co-operation  of  human  free  will ;  and  resi)ecting 
the  latter  he  took  a  middle  ground  between  the  Calvin- 
istic  and  the  Lutheran.  The  University  of  Wittenberg 
adopted  his  views.  Subsequently  that  of  Jena  was 
founded  in  the  interest  of  stiict  Lutheranism.  Various 
other  differerices  arose,  which  distracted  theological 
opinion,  for  several  years.  At  last  a  convention  met  at 
Bergen,  near  Magdeburg,  1577,  and  agreed  upon  a  form 
of  Concord,  which  seemed  to  give  general  satisfaction. 
The  Formula  Coiicordicv  constitutes  the  final  symbol  of 
the  Lutheran  church. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  this  jjcriod  that  a  new  enemy 
of  the  Protestant  cause  began  to  make  itself  felt  in  the 
controversy.  The  Jesuit  order  received  Papal  sanction 
in  1540,  and  in  1556  Ignatius  Loyola  died,  after  having 
completed  his  system,  and  seen  it  fully  established  in 
practice.  Loyola  was  a  Spanish  soldier,  who  being  dis- 
abled for  military  service  by  wounds,  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  construction  of  a  new  monastic  order  for  the 
specific  purpose  of  defending  the  Papal  cause.  His 
plans  were  gradually  matured  by  the  thinking  of  manj' 
years  and  assistance  of  colleagues,  among  whom  the  first 
were  Peter  Faber  and  Francis  Xavier. 

The  methods  by  wdiich  the  order,-  which  called  itself 
the  society  of  Jesus,  sought  to  obtain  power,  was  b}' 
popular  preaching,  b}'  obtaining  the  place  of  confessors 
to  Princes  and  persons  of  high  rank  and  standing  in 
royal  courts,  by  controling  the  education  of  the  young, 
and  establishing  missions  to  operate  upon  the  rulers  of 
heathen  countries.  The  vows  of  a  professed  Jesuit  are 
those  of  cliasity,  poverty,  obedience,  and  of  implicit  com- 
plian-^ie  with  a  command  of  the  Pope,  to  go  to  any  place 


171 

ill  tlie  world  wlioro  he  may  send  them.  They  are  iiot 
under  C)bHy:ation  of  seclusion  from  the  world,  to  practice 
the  ordiuiu-y  [»enances  and  macerajions  of  the  body. 
Not  for  asceticism,  but  for  work  is  the  order  constituted. 
Tlie  selection  of  their  men  is  careful,  their  education 
strict,  and  their  probation  searching:.  The  first  stau^e  is 
that  of  novices  on  trial,  second  that  of  scholastics  pursuing 
the  education  appointed  tliem  ;  third,  that  of  coadjutors 
temporal  and  spiritual,  of  whom  the  former  are  not  yet 
priests,  but  useful  to  the  cause  in  secular  occupations, 
and  the  other  constitute  the  class  from  whom  are  cliosen 
the  highest,  or  fourtli  grade,  who  are  also  of  two  classes, 
tlie  i)r(^fessed  of  three  vows  and  the  professed  of  four. 
Their  government  recognizes  successive  ranks  of  sub- 
oi'di  nation,  and  superiors,  with  mutual  esi>ionage,  and 
the  supreme  authority  is  vested  in  a  general,  elected  by 
the  professed  members,  and  who  serves  for  life. 

In  proportion  as  that  new  order  increased  in  Ger- 
many, so  did  Catholic  violations  of  the  Religious  Peace. 
First  they  succeeded  in  suppressing  Protestantism  in  Bava- 
ria, and  other  states  were  won  back  to  the  Catholic  con- 
nection. The  Emperor  Hudoliih  II.  (1576-1612)  sustained 
the  re-action  with  all  the  weight  of  his  authority,  and  in 
some  cases  with  force.  As  the  power  of  choosing  the 
state  religion  belonged  only  to  the  Princes,  little  regard 
was  paidtothe  wishes  of  the  peo[»le.  Success  emboldened 
aggression.  Threats  of  entire  snpj)res.'sion  of  the  Prot- 
estant cause  began  to  be  heard,  and  in  some  quarters 
steps  were  actually  taken  to  that  end. 

A  change  liad  also  taken  place  in  the  tone  of  the 
Catholic  church,  as  well  as  of  the  Papacy,  respecting  Uie 
reformation  needed  within  their  bounds.  Clement  VII. 
died  in  1534.  His  su-ccessor,  Paul  III.,  deluded  the  reform- 
ing party  for  many  years  with  the  promise  of  calling  a 
council,  which  should  regulate  the  aftairs  of  the  church 
by  proper  authority.  After  many  evasions,  he  finally 
called  a  council,  which  met  at  Trent,  Dec.  13,  1545.  In 
1547,  he  removed  it  to  Bologna,  and  soon  after  caused  it 
to  be  adjourned.  From  the  first,  the  Protestants  per- 
ceived that  it  was  to  be  a  mere  Papal  agency,  and 
declined  taking  any  part  in  it.     In  N"ov.  1549,  Paul   III. 


172 


died.  Julius  IIT,,  at  the  instance  of  Charles  V.,  re- 
ojiened  the  council,  Ma^-  1st,  1551,  but  closed  it  in  Aju-il 
1552.  After  his  death  in  1555,  Marcellus  reio;ned  only 
23  davs  ;  and  was  followed  l\v  Paul  IV.,  who,  having 
been  long  at  theliead  of  the  Inijuisition  in  Home,  entered 
uj)on  his  i)ontitirate  in  the  s|iii'it  of  stern  hostility  to  all 
measuros  of  reform,  and  with  a  determination  to  carry  to 
the  utmost  jJO'^sible  extreme  the  temporid  and  s[)ii-itual 
supremacy  of  the  Piipal  ofKce.  During  all  his  reign 
(1555 — 15591  the  C(Mnu-il  was  not  called.  I)y  the  ni\\t 
Poi)e,  Pius  IV.,  it  was  re-assend)le(l  January  18,  15(32, 
and  was  more  numerously  attended  tlian  before,  but  its 
acts  were  of  less  importance  :  and  neither  then  nor 
before  did  it  effect  anything  to  meet  the  demand  wliich 
had  lirst  l)rought  it  together.  It  however  clearly  defined 
the  i»osition  of  Romanism  as  over  against  that  of  the 
Protestants  ;  and  nnide  manifest  the  fact  that  i-econcilia- 
ti(»n  was  im[)ractical)le.  It  was  iinally  dissolved  on  the 
4tli  of  Decendjer,  15G3.  In  all,  its  sessions  had  covei-ed 
about  four  years  and  seven  months.  Indulgences,  an'd 
all  the  doctrines  out  of  which  they  spring,  and  by  which 
tliey  are  justified,  were  fully  sustained  by  the  council, 
and  the  practice  of  dispensing  them  defended,  while  the 
recklessness  which  had  brought  the  sale  of  them  into 
dii^repute  was  censured.  The}'  were  to  be  dispensed,  not 
for  gain,  but  for  piet}-.  The  works  of  the  council  of 
Trent  appear  in  the  form  of  canons,  and  a  catechism  for 
the  instruction  of  [)rie8ts.  And  after  its  final  adjoui'u- 
ment,  Pius  IV.  issued  a  profession  of  faith,  in  wiiich  he 
summed  up  the  results  of  what  it  had  done,  and  added 
to  the  Nicene  creed  a  series  of  articles,  which  he  pro- 
nounced part  of  the  true  and  Catholic  faith,  out  of  which 
no  one  can  be  saved. 

From  the  close  of  the  council  of  Trent,  tbe  demand 
for  reform  in  the  Rondsh  church  fell  into  disrepute,  and 
the  reaction  against  it  continued  togain  strength,  until  the 
very  name  of  reformation  was  held  equivalent  to  heresy. 
For  that  cliange  the  Catholic  church  is  indebted  chiefly 
to  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  the  Jesuit  Order,  which  at 
the  death  of  its  founder  in  1556,  consisted  of  one  thous- 
and ar^tive  agents,   and   one   hundred  religious   houses, 


173 

divided  into  twelve  lu-ovinces,  reaching  to  tlie  East 
Indies,  oil  one  side,  and  to  Brazil,  on  the  other.  It  soon 
became  a  iniglity  engine,  no  less  powerful  among  the 
politics  of  princes,  tliaii  in  the  propaganda  of  Konianisin. 

Witliin  the  same  period,  the  different  cliurches  of  the 
Reformed  connection  on  the  continent  had  also  matured 
their  doctrinal  symbols. 

In  1535  and  1536,  Geneva,  sustained  by  the  canton  of 
Berne  succeeded  in  wresting  her  independence  from  her 
Bishop  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  in  uniting  with  tlie 
Protestant  confederation  of  Switzerland.  Her  reformers, 
Farel  and  Viret  were  in  1536,  joined  by  Calvin,  who  had 
already  published  the  first  edition  of  his  Institutes  of 
Theology.  For  the  strictness  of  their  dijcipline  they 
were  all  banished  from  the  city.  Farel  subsequently 
labored  in  i^eucliatel,  and  Viret  in  Lausanne.  Calvin 
was  recalled  in  1541  by  the  urgent  entreaty  of  the  peoj)le 
of  Geneva,  with  the  })romise  that  they  would  accept  the 
religious  government  which  he  proposed.  Under  the 
regulations  thus  established,  Geneva  became  the  head  of 
the  Helvetic  Reformation,  and  the  Seminary  of  Reformed 
doctrine.  After  the  death  of  Calvin,  May  27,  1564,  that 
reputation  and  standing  was  maintained  by  Beza  and 
other  eminent  scholars  and  divines. 

In  France  the  Reformed,  under  severe  repression  and 
sometimes  the  most  cruel  persecution,  continued  to 
increase  in  number;  and  in  1559  drew  up  their  confes- 
sion consistent  with  the  doctrines  tauglit  in  Geneva. 
Their  cause  was  sustained  by  the  prince  of  Conde,  the 
admiral  Coligny,  and  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  later, 
by  her  daughter,  and  then  by  her  grandson,  Henry,  King 
of  Xavarre.  At  the  head  of  the  Catholic  party  stood  the 
ducal  house  of  Loraine,  and  the  royal  family  of  France, 
led  b}'  the  policy  of  Catherine  de  Medici,  w-ife  of  Henry 
II.,  and  mother  of  the  three  next  successive  Kings.  After 
repeated  wars,  a  marriage  of  the  young  King  of  Navarre 
and  the  sister  of  King  Charles  IX.,  was  negotiated  as  a 
means  of  securing  peace.  Great  numbers  of  Protestants 
assembled  in  Paris  to  honor  the  nuptials  of  their  leader. 
According  to  arrangements  previously  concerted,  chiefly 
by  the  Queen  Mother,  they  V7ere  attacked  on  the  night 


174 

of  the  24t1i  of  Alio;.  1572,  and  murdered  to  the  number 
of  many  thousands.  Tlie  Oi'ders  wore  extended  to  the 
provincea,  where  they  were  also  obeyed.  But  so  far 
from  beino;  exterminated,  the  Reformed  of  France  ral- 
lied around  the  King  of  Na%'arre,  and  carried  him  in 
victory  to  the  walls  of  Paris,  when  lie  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  France,  1589,  and  in  the  hope  of  uniting  both  par- 
ties, deserted  his  friends  by  professing  the  creed  of  his 
enemies.  He  granted,  however,  to  Protestants,  equal 
rights  with  Catholics,  by  the  edict  of  ISTantes,  1598.  His 
own  family  were  subjected  to  Romish  education,  and 
the  real  liberties  of  Protestants  did  not  long  survive  his 
death,  which  occurred  by  assassination  in  1610. 

Among  the  Reformed  of  the  Netherlands  persecution 
begun  in  the  execution  of  the  first  maityi's  of  Brussels  in 
1523,  was  continued  with  varying  severity  through 
all  the  reign  of  Charles  V..  and  under  his  successor 
Philip  II.,  intensified  to  a  degree  which  was  equally 
inhuman  and  insane,  resulting  in  the  reduction  to  pov- 
erty of  a  once  wealthy  dependency,  and  the  complete 
alienation  of  its  allegiance  from  the  throne  of  Spain.  In 
1579,  the  southern  provinces  submitted.  But  tlie  north- 
ern declared  their  independence.  In  1561  the  Belgic 
confession  was  composed,  presenting  the  same  type  of 
doctrine  as  that  of  Geneva.  On  that  Platform  the  Re- 
publicans of  the  United  Netherlands  defended  themselves 
against  tlie  forces  of  Siiain,  and  after  a  long  war,  wrested 
from  their  enemy  the  peace  of  1609.  Then  rose  the 
controversy  with  Arminianism,  leading  to  the  Synod  of 
Dort  in  1618.  Again  the  Provinces  were  involved  in  a 
war  with  Spain,  beginning  from  1621,  in  the  course  of 
which  they  were  brouglit  into  relations  with  the  Protes- 
tants of  Germany. 

Among  German  Protestants  several  princes  and 
states  passed  over  from  Lutheranism  to  the  Reformed 
communion,  such  as  tlie  Duchy  of  Lippe,  Hesse  Cassel, 
and  the  Hanse  city  of  Bremen.  But  of  all  German  Re- 
formed States  most  eminent  was  the  Palatinate,  which 
made  that  change  under  the  Elector  Frederick  III.  in 
1560.  Three  years  afterwards,  under  the  same  Prince,  the 
HeidelL)erg  catechism  was  published,  which  soon  became 


175 

tlie  common  standard  of  doctrine  for  the  clui  relies  of  that 
connection. 

A  sense  of  the  danger  to  wliicli  they  were  exposed 
by  tlie  machinations  of  Jesnits,  and  the  spirit  of 
persecution  vviiich  was  exliibiting  itself  more  and  more 
extensively,  led  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany  to  enter 
into  another  league  for  their  mutual  defence.  Thus  was 
formed  the  Evangelical  Union,  at  Ahausen,  in  May,  1608. 
An  opposing  Catholic  league  was  constituted  in  July  of 
the  next  year,  at  Municli.  At  the  head  of  the  former 
was  the  Elector  Frederick  V.  of  the  Palatinate,  and  of 
the  latter,  Maximilian  of  Bavaria. 

In  Bohemia,  the  Reformers  were  the  most  numerous 
part  of  the  jx^pulation.  But  the  religious  Peace  was  of 
little  bcnetit  to  them,  because  they  were  subjects  of  a 
('atholic  German  Pi'ince,  and  dependent  upon  his  strict- 
ness or  lil)erality.  Upon  the  death  of  tlie  Emperor 
Matthias,  who  had  been  their  King,  the  Bohemians 
resisted  his  successor  on  the  Imperial  throne,  Ferdinand 
II.,  as  being  an  intolerant  Catliolic,  and  oft'ered  their 
crown  to  Frederick  V.,  electoral  Prince  of  the  Palatin- 
ate, and  son-in-law  of  James  I.  of  England.  Ferdinand 
pursued  his  claim  by  war,  and  was  supported  l)y  Spain 
and  the  Catholic  league.  Bohemia  and  the  Palatinate, 
driven  to  self-defence,  looked  for  f>upport  from  the  Evan- 
gelical Union,  and  from  England.  Thus  opened  in  1618 
a  war  which,  though  sometimes  interrupted  for  a  brief 
8[)ace,  was  not  brought  to  a  close  until  after  the  lapse  of 
thirty  years,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  which  some  of  the 
finest  portions  of  Germany  were  trodden  into  desolation. 

3.  The  aid  expected  by  the  Elector  from  England 
proved  so  feeble  as  to  be  deceitful.  The  cause  of  Fer- 
dinand was  victorious  (1620).  Protestant  worship  was 
abolished  in  Bohemia.  The  same  fate  befell  Austria. 
The  lands  of  the  Palatinate  were  seized  by  Spain  and 
Maximilian  of  Bavaria.  The  Evangelical  Union  was 
dissolved,  and  the  first  act  of  the  war  terminated  in  the 
re-establishment  of  the  Catholic  religion  everywhere  by 
force. 

In  1625,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Protestants  of 
lower  Saxony,  under   command   of  Christian  IV.,  King 


176 

of  Denmark,  to  resist  that  oppression.  Tt  nlpo  ii^^ned  in 
defeat,  before  the  iniperal  forces  under  Tilly  and  Wallen- 
stein.  A  treaty  was  concluded  at  Lubeck,  May  12, 
1629.  The  long  suspended  Edict  was  put  in  execution, 
and  nothing  less  was  contemplated  tiian  extermination 
of  the  protestant  cause. 

But  the  completeness  of  im|)erial  sucqess  brouglit 
about  its  overthrow.  Such  a  preponderance  of  the  Aus- 
trian Spanisli  power  l-cindled  the  jealousy,  if  not  the  rea- 
sonable fears  of  France.  The  Italian  princes,  including 
tlie  Pope,  from  various  motives  of  local  politics,  sympa- 
thized with  France.  An  alliance  was  accordingly  formed 
by  those  powers  together  with  Sweden  for  the  purpose 
of  pursuing  the  war  more  vigorously,  to  put  a  check 
upon  the  dangerously  overbalancing  weiglit  of  the  Tlaps- 
burg  dynasty.  The  new  camj)aign  opened  June  24,  1630, 
in  the  arrival  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden,  as 
commander  of  the  allied  armies  in  Germany.  By  his 
prudence  and  energ}-  he  inspired  the  inindsof  Protestants 
with  new  liopes,  which  were  fully  sustained  by  liis  mili- 
tary success.  On  the  7th  of  Se})tember  1631,  he  fought 
a  great  battle,  in  which  he  defeated  Count  Tilly,  at 
Leipsic,  and  cleai-ed  his  way  into  the  heart  of  Germany. 
Early  next  year,  he  again  defeated  tlie  imperial  forces, 
at  the  passage  of  the  Lech,  where  Count  Tilly  was  slain. 
Continuing  his  victorious  march  southward  lie  penetrated 
into  Bavaria,  breaking,  as  he  advanced,  the  fetters,  which 
the  emperor  had  been  so  industriously  rivetting  upon  his 
Protestant  subjects.  In  another  great  battle  at  Liitzen, 
Nov.  6,  1632,  he  defeated  the  forces  of  VV;dlenstein.  By 
these  victories  he  removed  the  oppression  which  rested 
upon  most  of  the  German  states,  thereby  enlarging  his 
own  resources,  as  lie  weakened  those  of  his  enemy. 
And,  although  he  fell  in  the  midst  of  victory,  at  Liitzen, 
the  change  he  had  effected  upon  the  relative  state  of  the 
belligerents  gave  an  advantage  to  the  cause  he  defended 
which  was  retained  to  the  end.  Llis  policy  was  pursued 
by  the  Swedish  minister  Oxenstiern ,  and  the  Swedish  gene- 
rals Banier  and  Torstensen,  and  the  Prince  of  Saxe- 
Weimer  wrested  repeated  victory  from  the  imperialist 
forces,  while  Spain,  already  reduced  by  her  losses  in  the 


177 

Netherlands,  was  hnniiliated  by  the  victories  of  the 
French  generals,  Conde,  Turenne  and  otliers.  It  was  a 
long  conflict,  in  which  the  reverses  were  not  all  on  one 
side,  but  which  issued  in  sucli  decided  advantage  to  the 
Protestant  cause  as  to  constrain  the  Austrian-Spanish 
enemy  to  come  to  reasonable  terms.  Tlie  Thirty  years 
war  closed  in  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  (3ctober  1648. 

By  that  Treaty,  Sweden  and  some  other  Protestant 
states  made  a  gain  of  territory,  and  only  in  Bavaria 
were  the  Catholics  allowed  to  retain  all  tlie  advantages 
they  had  conquered  in  the  early  i)art  of  the  war,  and  "the 
terrible  ojipression  of  Bohemia  could  not  be  undone; 
but  tlie  principal  gain  was  in  the  establishment  of  equal- 
ity between  Catholic  and  Protestant  states,  in  all  affairs 
of  the  empire.  As  Holland  had  been  one  of  the  mem- 
bers ot  the  alliance,  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  extended 
to  both  branches  of  the  I'rotestant  connection. 

Among  the  Confessions  called  forth  during  this  long 
period  of  conflict  the  most  important  are,  for  the  Lutheran 
church,  Luther's  two  catechisms.  Longer,  and  Shorter, 
jS3!j the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  Apology  for  the  Confes-     '-'^f 
.J?"  sion,  the  Sn.alcald  Articles  and   the  Form  of  Concord;  /HJ 
for  the  Peforined,  the  second  Basil   Confession,  or  first 
Helvetic,    Calvin's    Instirutes,  though   not  a  confession, 
yet  having  much  to  do  with  all  the  lieformed  confessions 
which  succeeded,   Consensus  Tigurinus,  by  which  Ger- 
man Switzerland  accepted  Calvin'^s  doctrine^jf  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  second  Helvetic  Confession,  the  Heidelberg ''•''^^ 
Catechism,  the  Gallic  Con fessioiX  the  Belgic  Confession, •^"^' 
and  the  Confession  and  canons  of  Dor-{f    And  by  the  same 
date,  the  English  church  Articles  had  received  their  final 
form,  and  the  work  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  was 
complete. 


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